New Year. New Beginnings.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:6-7.

You and I have heard it and said it many times, “Don’t worry about it.“ We say that to each other, and we say it to ourselves. And yet we worry about everything. We worry constantly.

So what is Paul telling us in these verses? A close reading of this passage makes it clear that Paul is telling the Christians in Philippi, and us more than two centuries later, something more than just “don’t worry about it.“

What he is telling us here is how not to worry about it. “Let your request be made known to God.“ Of course, we should pray about what concerns us. But if we leave it at that, we miss a key element of how we should pray. 

Paul advises us that our prayers and supplication‘s to God should be made “with thanksgiving.“ We should not approach God with any of our worries, and say, simply, “take care of this.“ We should prepare our hearts and our minds with praise and thanksgiving for what God has done for us, for who we are and where we are. We have much to be thankful for, and if we have worries, we should leave them with God, but we should do so, with thankful hearts and thankful minds.

Our father, help us to carry a spirit that is not only worry free but thankful to you for all of the blessings that you have given to us. Amen.

This devotional was written by Jim Stovall

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.