Mensa Otabil - Be Anxious for Nothing
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If we’re going to have peace, we have to learn to be anxious for nothing. Philippians 4:6-7 says, «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 understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.»
Be anxious for nothing. It’s one thing to pray and pray hard, and another thing to pray without anxiety. The amount of time we spend in prayer is not as important as our attitude in prayer. It’s not how long you prayed, but how well you prayed, and to pray well, we have to pray without anxiety.
So the passage says we should be anxious for nothing. In other words, when we get ready to come before the Lord in prayer, we have to leave our baggage of worries and anxieties outside. Before you enter God’s presence, you don’t go there with a lot of anxiety, worry, and fear. That’s why most of the time in the Bible, when God or His angel spoke to someone, He would say, «Fear not,» because you cannot mix fear and faith together.
Be anxious for nothing. I know it’s difficult to pray without anxiety, especially in a year like this, but that is the command. We have to learn to check out our anxiety when we pray. Then the passage says we should pray with thanksgiving. When we pray with thanksgiving, it’s an expression of faith in God. It’s thanking God in advance that He has done what you have asked Him to do. So, thanksgiving is an expression of faith.
Then it says when we pray without anxiety and we pray with thanksgiving, look at what will happen: He says the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds. Isn’t it interesting? You present a request to God and expect Him to give you the request; but the answer to your prayer is the peace of God, which will guard your heart.
The first assurance that God gives you that your prayer is heard and that He is working on it is the peace that He gives you, which guards your heart. He says the peace that passes all understanding, in other words, is a kind of peace that doesn’t seem to make sense because everything is turned around you, but you are cocooned in the assurance of God’s love, provision, and safety.
The Greek word that is translated as «guard» is the word used for protecting people or keeping people in custody. So what the passage is saying is that when we pray, God’s peace will imprison our minds; literally, it will keep our minds from wandering and from moving from faith to unbelief and fear. The peace of God will hold you together when we pray.
So when we come before God without anxiety and we pray with thanksgiving, His peace will keep our minds. People may be losing their minds, but you will not lose your mind; your mind will be kept, your mind will be harnessed, because the peace of God will be the guard that holds you together.
This year, I pray that God will hold your mind together, that nothing will shake your mind and nothing will disturb it. And when He gives us that peace, we have every confidence that our prayer has been answered. May the peace of God keep you and hold your mind together.
Let’s pray together. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, thank you in advance for answering my prayer. I receive your peace as a guard over my heart and mind in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.» Keep it under control; God is in control. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.