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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Be strong and do not fear.

Yesterday, these words came to life for us from the 35th chapter of Isaiah as we were reminded that God is greater than anything we’re going through. He is almighty and all powerful. He has no rival and there is nothing beyond the work of His hands.

And still, we worry, we stress, and we are anxious and afraid.

This why I felt moved to write today’s devotion in a departure from Isaiah and share something that the Lord gave to me as I was speaking to someone who was in the midst of agonizing over a broken marriage, left confused, nervous, and full of tension over her future and what might be ahead.

To her, and to all of us, the Lord has provided a two verse prescription with dealing with the pressures of life. Look at these words from the 4th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. vv. 6-7

Note that these words are not given to us as an option. We are commanded to not be anxious or any of the associated emotions that come along with it like worry or stress or fear. We are to not allow any of these emotions dominate us because we have a God who is greater than anything we are going through, a God who loves and cares for us deeply, a God who is the only One who can bring us peace in life.

When are we going to get that?

So today, I am going to give you a simple exercise that I encourage you to use anytime you are starting to feel even an inkling of anxiety, stress, worry, and fear. It involves making a list and then applying the rest of Philippians 4:6-7.

To start, write down everything that you are stressed about, worried about, afraid of, or anxious over. Make a list.

Then, I want you to pray over each item one at a time. That prayer might go something like this:

Dear Lord, I love You and trust that You can do all things. I am committing (enter the item on your list here) to Your mighty work. This is more than I can handle Lord but I know it’s not too big for you and so I’m taking this weight from my shoulders and laying it at Your feet in faith and hope. Thank You for always being there for me and for the love You have for me. My burden given to You, I stand ready to receive Your peace. Amen.

Once you have prayed this, cross the item off your list and pray over the next one. And then do it again, and again, until you have finished your list. If you have truly done what you said you were doing, giving up your burdens to God in trust that He will see you through your situation and circumstances, then you will feel a liberation and comfort that no one else could ever give you because no one else is God and can do what He can do.

In other words, you will experience a peace that transcends all understanding, a peace that the world cannot give. Only the Lord can bring it to you and that can only happen when you surrender your concerns to Him fully.

Finally, once you have unloaded the weight of your pressures on Him, you need to continue to be in prayer, reaffirming your faith, hope, and trust in God through His Son Jesus, the source of our eternal hope. For in doing so, we will be ensuring our hearts and minds are guarded from Satan coming back into the picture and bringing negative feelings and emotions back into our minds. For where the Lord is always seeking to encourage us and bring us to a place where we can serve Him, Satan is trying to discourage us and lead us into despair and anguish, gloom and torment, distress and sorrow.

My prayer for you today and every day is that you write these words from Philippians 4:6-7 on your heart and mind and soul so that you will find yourself in a place of constant peace, a peace that transcends understanding, a peace that only comes from the Lord when we fully trust Him in our lives.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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