“…By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6b, NIV)
Therein lies the challenge for most of us. We all have needs. Seasons and circumstances ebb and flow. But in the midst of our inadequacies, we are asked to come with an attitude that reflects we are grateful for Him, while obviously being in a position that presently dictates that we need something from Him!
The confidence for our future has to be rooted in a history of trust. If there is evidence of inconsistency, it certainly can’t be traced to Him. The theme verse of our movement, Hebrews 13:8, declares the constancy of His kingdom. We make promises and break them, but He never does. We mostly have good intentions, but somehow, some way, they get displaced by decisions that are not what we intended.
Anxiety, or the lack of “the peace of God,” both are often evidences that we are not approaching Him in the distinct ways that we have been instructed. Bring your needs; bring your concerns; bring your pain. Ask! Seek! Knock! But do so with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what He has already done!
Recently, in a prayer circle, a 3-year-old was thankful for the vitamins she takes that have kept her from getting sick. We have all discovered that the simplicity of thanksgiving will keep the devilish influence of worry at bay. H20 gives you the perfect chemical construct of water. Prayer, petition and thanksgiving give you the spiritual construct that leads to a well-guarded heart and mind (Philippians 4:7). May every day be for you a day of thanksgiving—and a day free from the entanglement of worry!
By: Glenn Burris Jr., general supervisor
