Lifting Our Eyes: The Power of Prayer and GratitudeSample

Have you ever felt like the weight of the world was resting on your shoulders? As if the pressure of job expectations, managing responsibilities, and navigating life's challenges was all on you? Many of us understand what it can be like to walk a long, solitary road, feeling like it's up to us to make a way.

Unfortunately, that way of thinking has slipped into our everyday faith, convincing us that it’s all up to us. The work, the bills, the appointments, the kids’ practices, making it to church, finding a spouse—big and small responsibilities loom over us, gawking at our self-reliance. They make us focus inward, telling us that if we just try hard enough, we’ll get it done. Before long, this is how we move from one season to the next, often led by the low hum of anxiety coursing through our day-to-day.

The problem with anxiety is that it narrows our perspective, allowing us to see only what is directly in front of us. It magnifies the unknown in our lives and can often diminish our faith. But Philippians 4:6 offers a remedy to this tunnel vision: prayer.

Prayer widens our perspective. It helps us to see that God is, in fact, at work, even when we can’t see the whole picture. Prayer makes way for gratitude that quiets the voice of anxiety and amplifies the voice of the Holy Spirit, who speaks peace, trust, and hope into our daily lives.

Philippians 4:6 clarifies the practice that leads to holy dependence. It shows us that when we thoughtfully submit our anxiety to Christ and lead with gratitude, He empowers us to release our self-reliance and trust Him with our requests. We are no longer in our struggles alone, but instead, we are children coming to our Father for help, trusting His heart for us.

Where are you in this practice today? Are your eyes fixed on your own responsibilities and anxieties? Are you practicing daily gratitude? Or are you looking your Father in the face, petitioning and trusting Him with your requests?