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 understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  

Philippians 4:6-7  

Does God want to hear about the things that make us anxious? When it comes to articulating our anxiety, one of the great difficulties which many of us have is finding our voice. Perhaps we have survived trauma, suffer from the effects of someone else’s sin on our mind and body, and find ourselves with a host of fears. The latent threat of the recurrence of those incidents, or of something like them makes us wary, hyper-vigilant, and anxious. We hear the first portion of our text over and over again in the hands of counselors who claim to be biblical and they effectively bludgeon us into silence. Does Christ want to hear about what makes me anxious? Our text indicates He does. This is not the only place we find examples of it. The Psalmist says in Psalm 94, ‘in the multitude of my anxieties within me your comforts delight my soul.’ This is very encouraging because it means that Christ does want to hear. Having someone who is willing to listen very often gives the anxious soul a voice. In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we can let our requests be made known to God. In the place of prayer we find our voice.  

Our Good and Gracious God,  
we rejoice that You delight to hear us when we pray.  
We praise You that You are willing to listen,  
as we express all our fears. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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 understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:6-7 

How should we understand the tenor of this statement? From the mouths of some it has all the comfort of a swinging baseball bat. It is very much like having someone scream, ‘I love you!’ with a rage-contorted face, only inches from yours. By contrast, if God is our Father, and by His Holy Spirit He is speaking in this verse, is that how He communicates this phrase? Consider this scenario: A father carries his small girl up to bed. He tucks her in, gives her, her favorite stuffed toy, and makes his way to the door.  As he turns out the light, the wee child says, ‘Daddy, I’m scared.’ He responds, ‘What are you afraid of, Baby Girl?’ She says, ‘I’m afraid of the dark.’ He says, ‘I understand, so I will pull up a chair and sit with you.’ She says, ‘but I’m afraid of the monsters.’ He says, ‘I will deal with the monsters. I won’t leave you alone. Don’t worry about anything.’ What did the father say? He said, ‘Be anxious for nothing, don’t worry about anything.’ These are words of genuine comfort from the mouth of a loving father. They carry with them a real peace which comes from the Giver of peace. 

Our Gracious God and our Heavenly Father, 
we rejoice in Your words of comfort and encouragement  
to Your anxious people. 
We praise You that we receive these words  
as children from a loving Father. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning