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.
Offload anxiety with the Lord’s Prayer
What a gift the Lord Jesus gave us in the prayer he taught in Matthew 6!
Perhaps it has become so rote and routine that your mind skips engaging when you say it, or you don’t remember exactly what the words mean.
Here’s a fresh use for these petitions. Use them to offload anxiety!
The Spirit of God says to present our requests to God using “prayer and petition.” So why not use the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer to do just that!
(Glance back at yesterday’s devotion for the offloading that can happen just with the opening address, “Our Father in heaven”!)
What anxiety can we offload with the petition, “Hallowed be your name”?
We get to represent the name of the Lord in our lives. If we have anxiety about our identity or our purpose or who we represent, we are bearers of the name of the LORD! In our baptism, he put his name on us and we carry that name. We have the promises and power of his Word that represent all of his name to guide, direct and encourage us.
How about “Your kingdom come?”
Do you worry about politics? Concerns about who is in power or not in power? Upcoming elections or possible future leaders of our country? This petition offloads any anxiety about these things to a trust that God’s kingdom is bigger and more important than any political election or leader. The power of the Gospel to change and guide hearts is far more impactful than any legislation or law politics can come up with. Remember the One who rules the kingdom of God is the one who allows political authorities to have their place!
Are you feeling less anxious yet?
Let’s keep going, “Your will be done.”
Anxious about our faith or the faith of someone else? Worried that you haven’t done enough of that your faith isn’t strong enough? God’s will is that through the Word we stay close to him. His will is that we find our hope and security in the objective work of Christ and the saving reality of the Gospel. When God’s will is done in our lives, we find our meaning, purpose and direction to reflect his grace in every aspect of life.
This next one is a good one. “Give us today our daily bread.”
One of the top causes of anxiety is finances. We can worry when our bills out pace our month. We can worry if we have accumulated much that we might lose it. This petition invites our trust that God will provide each day what is needed, just like he did for his people Israel for 40 years. Any worries about our daily existence get offloaded with this one petition!
Relationships can cause a lot of anxiety. Here’s where the fifth petition helps. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
What a wonderful gift this petition is to offload any guilt we have because of our sin to seek God’s forgiveness…and be assured of it. What a great petition to help us forgive those relationships that have wronged us, maybe even very severely. The anxiety of interaction can be replaced with the heart of forgiveness.
Anxiety about pet sin, addictions, or a situation that tempts you to sin? Pray the sixth petition, “Lead us not into temptation.” God loves to provide the strength to say “No” to sin!
The news can bring a lot of anxiety. Wars, natural disaster, crime, and more. We fear the worst that might happen to us in the phobias we can carry. Jesus invites us to offload this anxiety with the simple petition, “Deliver us from evil.”
Worried about anything else? Just offload it all with the words, ‘For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.” Remember God is Lord over all and more than willing to have us present our requests to him to offload our anxiety!
Amen? AMEN!
Apply: What anxiety are you carrying this morning? What petition helps you most to offload that anxiety?
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.