Devotions based on week 10 of Joy in the Journey: Joy (WATCH HERE)
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Do you ever have anxiety?
If you answer, “No,” I would question if you are alive!
Everyone has anxiety at some point. Anxiety is a natural human emotion characterized by feelings of worry, fear, or unease. It actually a normal response to stress or perceived danger. It can have a positive effect by keeping us from danger or doing something dangerous.
However, most anxiety is worry and stress about things we can not control or have a very small chance of actually happening to the degree we are worried they will.
A study by Dr. Don Joseph Goeway, author of “The End of Stress,” indicated that 85% of things we worry about never happen. Of the 15% that did happen, individuals said they handled the situation better than expected or learned something from it. This means that only 3% of what we worry about actually ends up as a bad as we fear.
So, practically we might rewrite this passage and say, “Don’t be anxious about 97% of things, as they won’t be as bad as you think.”
When we insert the solution to anxiety into the mix, Paul directs us by the Spirit to not be anxious about 100% of the things we might worry about. (Jesus actually indicates the same in Matthew 6!) The solution, or at least the substitute activity to anxiety? Prayer and petition!
God invites us to offload our anxiety on him!
God doesn’t want us to carry things emotionally and spiritually that we were never designed or intended to carry.
God invites us to trust him for the many things out of our control we have anxiety about.
But he goes a step further.
Just before Jesus teaches about worry and anxiety in Matthew 6:25-34, he teaches about prayer in Matthew 6:5-15.
Is there a connection?
For sure.
The Lord gives us the gift of prayer so we can offload our anxiety. What caught my attention in Matthew 6 and Jesus’ teaching on prayer is that in that section he lays out for us the Lord’s Prayer.
Could we have missed this gift for so many years? Is it possible that part of the blessing of the Lord’s Prayer are short petitions that we can use to offload our anxiety and present our requests to God?
Yes. Yes, it is.
Let’s consider just the opening phrase, “Our Father in heaven…”
What anxiety does simply having the privilege and the gift to address God in heaven as “our Father”…”my Father”?
Do you have anxiety about your earthly family? Do you struggle with identity and purpose? Do you worry that you are not loved or accepted by the people around you?
With one short phrase, “Our Father in heaven” our Father tenderly invites us to know we are his dear child, he loves us unconditionally, he champions our identity and purpose because he gave it to us. He assures us we always have one who is with us, even when we feel lonely and alone.
Don’t you love when God invites us to do something he gives us the guidance of how to do it?
Look forward to tomorrow’s devotion where we will offload most if not all of our anxieties with the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer!
Apply: Do your own thoughts today. Write out the Lord’s Prayer with space between the petitions. Ask yourself, “What anxiety does this petition offload and present to God?’ Write it down in the space between petitions.
Prayer: Lord, by your invitation we offload all our anxiety to you for we know you care for us! AMEN.