This weeks post is not a long one, but I do believe it’s important. This is one of those that hopefully gets you thinking.
Earlier this week I was laying in bed, awake, experiencing a higher than usual level of anxiety. Sometimes, for no reason that I can put my finger on, I find myself overwhelmed, anxious, and unable to sleep. It’s strange how we can get worked up without really understanding why. And the worst part is that I can’t go to sleep which messes up my next day and causes my to try harder to go to sleep which only makes things worse!
Maybe you can relate.
While this does not happen often, my typical response when it does is to recite scripture and pray. I’d like to say that I do these things because I am just that spiritual, but truthfully, I do them because they calm me down and help me to get to sleep. I pray and ask God for peace and then remind Him, as if He needed to be reminded, that He promised peace if we would put our faith in Him. Sometimes I will even recite verses like Philippians 4:6:
Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
That’s what I started to do the other night when I couldn’t sleep. I reminded God that in Philippians 4:6 we are told to bring our requests to Him and that right now I am requesting peace and a good night of sleep! And then, just in case He forgot, I reminded Him that He always keeps His word.
Then He reminded me of the part of the verse I was looking past:
“With Thanksgiving!”
So often when I am in need, I focus on the NEED instead of on the ONE who has always heard and answered my prayer. God does tell us to come to Him boldly and express our need and our dependence on Him. As a loving Heavenly Father He takes joy in meeting our needs. But, as our Father, He also takes joy in hearing us express our thanks for all that He has done.
This is what it means to live in a way that gives God glory. To point others through our life and our words back to the ONE Creator and Sustainer.
And you know what happens when you express not only your need but also a heart of gratitude for needs met? You also experience peace because now you are asking with the confidence of a person who knows God will keep His word. Because He always has.
Don’t be anxious!
Ask!
But don’t overlook that really important part in the middle:
“With Thanksgiving!”
Photo by Morvanic Lee on Unsplash