Abiding in the Prince of Peace | How to Win Your Mental War Sample

Be Anxious for Nothing 

The word anxious can be defined as; care, worry, full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried. None of this sounds appealing at all, yet we experience these unhealthy fruits of anxiety as humans. I want to break down these verses and see what God gives us to deal with anxiety. God is not simply commanding us to not be anxious, but the command gives us a clear understanding as to how we do that. James 1:22 reminds us that if we are only hearers of the word and not doers, we will not see the fruit God intends for us from His words. 

First, he directs us to be in prayer, supplication with thanksgiving. Prayer and supplication denote an intimate, abiding fellowship with Christ. That is why early, we introduced the abiding in Christ section. If you are going to have the peace of God, it is dependent on being connected to Him. God did not simply tell you to get over your anxiety and stop it. He invites you to sit with Him and allow His fellowship to subdue the anxiety and produce His peace. He says let your requests be made known to Him. Give Him your anxiety, stress, worry, and fear. 

Jesus did not create you to carry the weight of your cares, stress, worries, and anxiety. When you abide in the Prince of Peace, you learn to let go of what stresses you and give it to Him. In exchange, He gives you rest for your soul. This does not make total sense but is a sweet and precious promise from our savior. Philippians says that when you do the first part, God will give you peace that goes beyond your mental comprehension. This promise includes your heart and mind. The key is in Christ. When you remove Christ from the conversation, you are left right back with your own fear, stress, and anxiety. The key is to remain in Him. 

The next part of this verse involves the focus of your soul. He gives us a brief list of some things to renew our minds away from anxiety and onto. He uses the statement, "meditate on these things." Rather than allowing your thought life to be consumed with all the things that are a catalyst to the anxiety, he encourages you to set your mental energy on, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy. 

These statements are broad in context and can include a lot of things. Find a way to set your mental affection on things that produce what this verse says. You can't go wrong when you read the Bible, so that is a great start. Get around some biblical community that can encourage you and help you see areas of your life that these characteristics are. 

I think many people come to Christ when they need things and neglect the invitation to abide in Him. The pattern to do life on my own and then come to Jesus when I have need will not lead to a healthy soul. God wants to be the center of all you do and not just a savior from sin and hell. If you truly want the peace of God, abiding in Him is the only way.

Christ is the only one who can really examine you in the deep areas of your heart and soul. He can graciously and lovingly draw out the subconscious stress and anxiety so that He can help you grow through it into healing and peace. The Psalmist paints a picture of humble and sincere submission to the only one who fully knows me. Learning to set aside intentional time with Jesus to simply wait and listen to what He will show you as He examines you is such a gift. God knows the good, bad, and ugly in your soul and wants to lead you on the path of peace, healing, and joy. 

Take Away:

Pick one of the three passages of scripture from today’s devotional and use the STAR journal method to really dig deep into what is being said. 

#1 Scripture Read/Promise Given/Question Asked

Read the verse and/or question. Pause and prayerfully meditate on what is being said, read, or asked.

#2 Thought Conveyed

Write down what this means to you to clearly understand the question, Scripture thought, or promise. Make it personal to get the most out of it.

#3 Application Made

How does this teaching apply to me right now? How does this apply to my leadership context?

#4 Response Given

What can I do to immediately apply this to my life? How should I respond/react to this promise or instruction now and long term?