Philippians 4:6 – …but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
How can we expel anxiety and fear? I remember as a child waking up after having suffered a bad dream and my mother encouraging me to pray to the Lord, claiming the truth that “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Truly prayer is a powerful tool to overcome worry, because it expresses our complete dependence on God.
Prayer, then, becomes half of the “put off-put on” formula that Paul often uses. We must put off anxiety and fear, even as we put on an attitude of constant and thankful prayer. And prayer is far more than simply reading a wish list to God, it is a microcosm of our relationship with him. As we draw near to him in total trust, we find our hearts filled with a desire to cry out to him, expressing our deepest needs, asking that his will be done.
In this verse, Paul uses 4 different terms for prayer, but the significance of these terms is not that they describe 4 different types of prayer, but that they reveal just how much impact prayer has in the life of the believer. Moises Silva explains that, “The real significance of this stylistic richness is not what it says about the theological components of prayer but rather about the great importance that Paul attaches to the believer’s prayer life.”
Today, ask the Lord to help you put off anxiety and fear by putting on a regular pattern of prayerful dependence on him.
Scriptures to read: Matthew 7:7-11; Hebrews 13:5-6