How to Have the Best Year EverSample

Be Prayerful, Don't Be Anxious

Most people would love to minimize the amount of time they worry. Most people also wish their prayer life was better than it is. We need to realize how connected these things truly are. Paul writes to the church in Philippi, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Paul presents prayer as the antidote to worry. Another way to express this passage would be to say, "Don't worry, PRAY!"

Of course, that is easier said than done, at least for most of us. Anxiety and worry-related issues are an epidemic in our society. We use all kinds of drugs and therapies and often still greatly struggle with fear and stress. What Paul writes to the Philippians may seem simplistic, but it is based on a sound foundation. Whenever we worry, we are focused on the problem. All we can see and think about is the enormity of the problem and what has happened and might happen. We see nothing but the calamity, which may or may not actually come to pass. Even when something terrible has happened, what we are worrying about is the result of the aftermath of whatever happened. It is in the future, and it may or may not come to fruition.

Worry focuses our thoughts and energy on this "thing" that we know is too big for us to handle and is out of our control. We feed it with our worry, and in turn, we struggle even more.

When we pray, however, we are not focused on the problem but on the solution or on the One who can handle whatever the problem is. We may have accurately understood that the issue is too big for us to handle, but that does not mean that it is too big for God to handle. The God who spoke the world into existence, who calmed the storm, healed the sick, and raised the dead, is even able to handle our issue, regardless of what the situation may be.

When we pray, it enables us to see something besides the problem. We can focus on the One who is our solution. God may "fix" the problem, help us walk successfully through the situation, or even make the problem disappear.

When we pray with "supplication and thanksgiving," our focus is not on what makes us worry. Our focus is on the God who loves us with everlasting love, is greater than our problems, and will give us His peace for our lives.

This does not mean that the problem will always go away, but our anxiety can. God can give us peace during the storm. In some cases, we may have to pray often to keep anxiety from overwhelming us, but our year will be so much better if every time we begin to worry, we will begin to pray.