Pray The beginning of the verse tells us not to worry. Wouldn’t it be great if we could simply tell ourselves not to worry, and then we stopped worrying? Life would sure be easy if this were the case! However, easy lives don’t lead us to Christ and his strength; rather the difficult moments are the ones that draw us closer to him. The best way to stop doing something is to start doing the opposite. If we don’t replace negative behavior with positive behavior, the negative behavior will linger around like a bad odor. So when you are faced with worry, pray! Different versions of this verse tell you to “tell God what you need” (NLT) and “[let] God know your concerns” (MSG) and “make your wants known to God” (AMP). The bottom line is to get with God and talk to him about what is troubling you. He obviously already knows, but he wants you to come to him and ask him personally for his help!
Be Thankful After telling God what we need, we are instructed to thank him for all he has done. It’s amazing how focusing on all the blessings of God in your life can really turn your perspective around! If you are facing financial troubles, thank God for financial blessings he’s given you in the past. Simply being alive and having the ability to face your worries is something to be thankful for! Having an attitude of thankfulness not only blesses God, but it also blesses us by reminding us of God’s faithfulness in the past. I personally know how easy it is to forget all the ways God has come through for me in the past when I’m facing a giant problem. The problem seems so big, but having a thankful attitude puts the problem into perspective and reminds me that God will come through again, because he always has in the past.
Lean into God’s Peace Once we pray and thank God for all he has done, he promises his peace for us, which exceeds anything we can understand! When we experience peace in the middle of troubling circumstances, it really is beyond our understanding because it simply doesn’t make sense. That is exactly what God wants to give us, though. The Message Bible puts it like this: Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.” Wow! When I am consumed with worry, that is what I’m really looking for – for God to settle me down! I have experienced first-hand how God can change my heart and give me peace even when my stressful circumstances remain the same, and it is amazing. The Amplified version defines that kind peace for us as: “that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace.”
Live in Christ Jesus For some people, simply praying and thanking God will immediately bring them peace and their worry will be gone for good, but the majority of us (myself included) we have to walk this out over and over again. God’s peace comes as we “live in Christ Jesus.” I can pray and be thankful, but unless I choose to continually do so and surrender my worry over to God, the worry creeps back in. God’s ways are not a one-and-done kind of deal. He is not like a candy machine where you put a prayer in, get an answer, and then walk away. God’s Word works in our lives as we walk with him and continually work on renewing our minds to his Word. It’s a process, but if we submit to the process, we will be richly blessed! The good news is that as we grow and mature in God, setting aside our worry and anxiety gets easier over time. The bad news is (bad for our flesh anyway) is that we probably won’t ever get to a point where we will no longer deal with it. While we are on this earth in our human flesh, we will always deal with temptations and fight against our human nature, but God’s Word always works and he will always be there to help us through anything we face.
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