Dear Church,

Philippians 4:6 reminds us “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”.  When I look at this verse, I see that God is reminding us of at least two things.

–       NO-thing should fill us with anxiety
–       EVERY-thing can be made a matter of prayer

Be anxious for NO-thing.  Anxiousness is defined as “an extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about something that we anticipate may happen”.  As a child of God, it is alright for us to have a godly concern about things we face in life.  This concern is rooted in our desire to trust in God’s provisions.  But undue uneasiness of our mind or brooding fear makes us to be the father of our own kingdom instead of a child in His kingdom. Our anxiousness is almost crying out to God, “get off the throne of my life, let me worry about this.”  Jesus said, “come to me those who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28) 

Paul continues in Phil 4:6, “in EVERY-thing by prayer and supplication”. Prayer encompasses all our communication with God.  Supplication on the other hand is our direct asking for a specific need from God.  It is not wrong to ask God for our needs. Many of our prayers could go unanswered because we don’t ask God for anything.

Finally, Paul says, ‘with thanksgiving’ – this should be the genre of all our prayers as opposed to whining. God simply says, “let your request be known”.  Doesn’t God know our need before we pray?  Yes, he knows everything.  Yet, he waits for us to ‘own’ our request so he can answer our prayers.  He desires our participation so he can partner with us as he answers, here the glory goes to Him. The prayers of the saints are cherished by God, he loves to hear his children bring their needs to Him.  Don’t hang on much longer to your struggles.  Make praying in the Spirit our first resource instead of our last resort.

Be Encouraged,
Mathews