“HAVE NO ANXIETY about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7). “Have no anxiety about anything”—does this mean we are to have no forethought about anything? No, Jesus taught forethought in providing for the future in the parable of the unjust steward. Forethought means getting all the information about a thing, praying over it, and then surrendering it into the hands of God to await His guidance. Anxiety is holding things in your hands and trying nervously to hold things together with your own resources. Forethought is essentially God-centered; anxiety is essentially self-centered.
The next portion is the remedy for anxiety: “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” “Prayer . . . with thanksgiving.” The thanksgiving is the element that saves prayer from anxiety prayer. Prayer, without surrender and thanksgiving, can be and often is a species of anxiety. It is anxiety turned toward God, instead of faith, confidence, and surrender turned toward Him.
The result of this prayer surrender is: “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding [and all misunderstanding!], will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God is tapped by prayer and thanksgiving and surrender and flows into the surrendered heart and mind. Note “heart” first. You can accept the peace of God with the heart when the mind doesn’t see the way clear. This is a heart-foremost acceptance instead of a head-foremost knowing. The result of that peace of God is that you are kept in Jesus Christ. In Him there are no insolvable problems; out of Him there are no solvable problems.
O peace of God, which passes understanding, take possession of me and keep my heart and mind in Jesus Christ. In Him I have no problems. They are all possibilities. So possess me. Peace of God, possess me. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I have a heart that is kept—kept by the peace of God.
