Welcome to Day 15 of the 40Days of Return.
Today, I want you to drop the luggage of worries and come into God’s Peace.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace” (Philip. 4: 6-7 NLT).
Peace as God’s Blessing
One uncommon blessing in life is peace of mind. It is only a myopic eye that reduces God’s blessings to monetary benefits. The worries many people have on a daily basis can be traceable to money issues. The ability to think is given by God. Any time unmet needs arise, worries may set in. Of what use is pondering on what you don’t have the power to change?
How to Secure God’s Peace
Today’s passage opens on a fresh angle in dealing with daily worries. It’s not easy to stop worrying about the often-scary, everyday parts of our lives, but God tells us how to do it: “pray about everything…thank him for all he has done”.
Gratitude: Antidote to Worry
A great antidote to worry is an attitude of gratitude. Parents understand the power of gratitude. Most parents wouldn’t appreciate their children always making requests without saying “thank you” for what they’ve already received. God sees it the same way. He wants us to ask him for what we need and want. More than 20 times in the New Testament, we’re told to “ask” him. But he wants us to ask with gratefulness.
The Bible urges us to be specific in our requests and our praises. Instead of a simple “thank you for everything”, he wants us to tell him what we’re grateful for. Prayer is one of the most important ways we tell God “thank you”.
Appreciating God in advance is a big step of faith. The more thankful we are, the more God works in our lives. The Bible says that God inhabits the praise of his people. He empowers and uses our thanksgiving as an instrument of power in our lives.
