Pausing for a moment to PRAY OR PRAISE - to pray for God’s activity/help, trust him to carry you forward — to sing along with a worship song or simply pausing for a moment to praise God for WHO HE IS…ALL OF WHAT HE DOES… can literally change your perspective and mind.
Reflecting on and actually practicing Philippians 4:4-7
Your life always moves in the direction of your strongest thoughts.
What consumes your mind will control your life.
And unfortunately, our mind is under attack.
Just after encouraging us to humble ourselves and cast all our anxiety on God, Peter wrote, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Peter said, “Be alert.” Don’t drop your guard!
Why? You have an enemy, the devil, and he is looking for someone to devour. The devil is always coming after you, he is always swinging, and so you always have to keep your hands up.
How do we do that?
==Remember what Paul wrote: “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” (Phil. 4:6–7).
Paul calls for us to make petitions and offer thanksgiving.
Or we could say, prayer and praise.
The promise is, if we do that, His peace will guard our minds. Peace is preceded by prayer and praise.
*illustration: In boxing, you need to keep both hands up to protect yourself. Think of prayer as one hand and praise as the other. We need to keep both hands raised.