The Remedy for Anxiety

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Here is a set of instructions, for me at least, which is easier to write about than to actually put into practice. Usually, when I am anxious, what I want to do is to fix whatever is causing my anxiety … and not to cease from my fixing in order to pray! Sometimes I even tell myself that I need to stop and pray (as soon, mind you, as I finish doing some last minute tweaking on whatever my problem happens to be!) … but I often end up just carrying on with the tweaking. So I write as one who needs to grow in practicing what I’m about to preach. But I write nonetheless. And I point our four simple truths from the wonderful remedy for anxiety that Paul sets down in Philippians 4.

1. Don’t be anxious! Easier said than done, I know! And yet it is a command, is it not? “Be anxious for nothing.” That is not just a suggestion, but an imperative! We must not be anxious! But then also, by extension, if Paul (and the Holy Spirit through Paul) commands us not to be anxious, then that means that, with God’s help, it really is possible not to be anxious! And that is hope giving, isn’t it? If we are commanded not to be anxious, and if it must therefore be possible (with God) not to be anxious … well then that means that, with God, nervous personality though I may be, anxiety is not inevitable! With God’s help, I’m not stuck with an irremediable problem! Not only must I not be anxious, but, by God’s grace, I don’t have to be anxious! That’s what Philippians 4 tells me, in a roundabout way! And not only does it tell me that I don’t have to be anxious, it also tells me how. Don’t be anxious, but …

2. Pray instead! Notice the important word “but” in v.6! It introduces an alternative to what has gone before it! “Be anxious for nothing, but…”. And what follows the “but” is Paul’s alternative to (and remedy for) anxiety! Don’t be anxious, but pray instead! “By prayer and supplication … let your requests” – about the anxiety itself, and about whatever may be the trigger for it, and about “everything” else – let all these “requests be made known to God.” Pray instead of worrying! Pray instead of brooding! Pray instead of nervously tweaking. Don’t be anxious! Pray instead!

3. And give thanks! It is “with thanksgiving” that we must present our requests. In other words, when you pray, don’t just come with your wish lists, but also with your thank-you-notes, so to speak! Be thankful for past answers to prayer. Be thankful, in advance, for how God will answer this prayer. Be thankful for how God is always watching out for you even when you don’t pray. Be thankful for how often He has blessed you with good things for which you never thought pray. And be thankful, especially, for His gift of His Son! God richly deserves the praise for all these things! And offering such praise will also have the effect of strengthening your faith to pray that God, who has blessed you so much already, will do so again! Thanksgiving, so often, can be the missing ingredient in our prayer lives (or at least in mine). Let it not be so in yours! Don’t be anxious! Pray instead! And give thanks!

4. And God will give you peace. When you pray, God may or may not immediately take away the circumstances that tempt you to anxiety. Praise God when He does! And praise God that, in the last day, He will change our circumstances forever! But in the meantime, Philippians 4:7 promises that, even if the difficult circumstances remain, God will give the thankful petitioner peace in the midst of them; peace in the midst of the storm! “The peace of God … will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Whether or not God immediately calms the storm, He will calm you, if you pray as Paul urges! And so I urge you to do so! Don’t be anxious! Pray instead! And give thanks! And God will give you peace.