“…PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION…”
January 4, 2026“…LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD…”
January 6, 2026We just completed the first Sunday of the New Year, yesterday. For most of us, today would be the first working day of the year 2026. As one enters into anything that is unknown, there most certainly would be anxiety. Anxiety can lead to stress, if it is not handled properly and wisely. This very much applies to the year that is ahead of us.
As Christians, we are called to bring all our anxieties, and all that is troubling us – the things that make us anxious – to God our LORD. We are called not to be anxious. We are called so because, the God to whom we belong to, is the Sovereign LORD, who has His lordship over every situation and circumstance in our life. Therefore the Word of God says…
– “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7
Let us meditate on the fourth lesson from the above verse – “…WITH THANKSGIVING…” I don’t know if you have noticed, that these words “…WITH THANKSGIVING…” are incongruous with anxiety, stress and fear. How can one come with thanksgiving, in the face of anxiety and stress? Strange, isn’t it? It sure is my friends, untill we fully understand the biblical perspective about life, its approach to stress, its struggles and its storms. Thanksgiving is the key, as a child of God, to a life of peace and tranquility, in the midst of any storm.
We are exhorted to thank God for everything that happens in our lives. This “everything” includes all that can ever go wrong, and and can terribly become bad, in a Christian’s life. This is what the LORD wants us to learn – for this is His will for us.
– “16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
These words complete the context for us – “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving…” This THANKSGIVING is the faith and trust placed in God, and not some mental derangement. Thanksgiving is, looking back at all the times our LORD had been good, gracious and merciful towards us, and had taken care of all our needs. For to be anxious is to not trust the LORD, despite all the help we received in the past. Hence, when a new need arises, we are called not to be anxious, but to approach the LORD Jesus with our prayers and supplications, basing them on the firm and the established fact of God’s help for us, in the past. Therefore the thanksgiving.
How do we approach our LORD, when in need? Are we anxious? Are we afraid? Are we troubled? Are we disturbed? Are we scared? Are we worried? Are we concerned? We don’t need to be so, if we know who our God is. We don’t need to be so, if we have experienced God’s goodness, grace and mercy in the past. By the way, there is none who has not experienced God’s goodness, grace and mercy.
Even so, the LORD help us to approach His throne of grace with thanksgiving.
