Philippians Chapter 4: Verses 6-7 (NLT)
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
We are often very good at keeping things to ourselves because we don’t want to bother anyone. Today, as a consequence, particularly amongst men, we have seen a rise in the number of suicides where people have reached the end of their tether and don’t know where to turn. I recall a series of tv adverts which ran, telling us that, “it’s good to talk.” And it is.
Paul tells the Philippians that they should pray about everything. Prayer is talking to God. We don’t need to hold anything back from Him – He knows about it anyway, and He won’t be shocked. But He wants us to unburden ourselves and hand our worries over to Him instead, and we can only do that if we are open and honest about how we are feeling. Only when we have done that can we really know God’s peace – because we have given Him our worries and anxieties. So why do we insist on keeping things to ourselves? Let’s learn the lesson that Paul was teaching the Philippians.
Dear Lord,
I know that it’s often part of our character to keep things to ourselves. Help me to tell You everything, confident that in doing so, I open myself to receiving the peace that passes all understanding. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.