The Peace of God
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
The apostle has given us a wonderful encouragement as we seek the peace of God in our hearts. So many things can destroy our peace and make us worried and afraid. Be careful for nothing means, “Don’t be anxious and afraid of anything.” Then the apostle tells us how to do that. He encourages us to tell God about it with supplication and prayer and thank God for our blessings at hand as we do so.
It is by prayer that we talk to God and tell him our worries. Then he reminds us that there is nothing wrong with begging - for that is what supplication means. Counting our blessings reminds us of what He has already done for us. It is one thing to ask and another thing to beg. We ask for many things but when we are hurting, we approach the throne of grace with more heart and begin to beg. That is where we find the Syrophoenician woman when she begged for her daughter.
This doesn’t mean that the pain will suddenly disappear, or our fears will be completely gone. But a peace can be found as we tell the Lord about it and put it in His hands. When we share our burdens with Him, we find Him carrying a portion of our burden and our load is lightened. As we pray and beg, our hearts and minds are kept near to our Savior. For His great love for us, He endured the cross, despised the shame, and is seated next to our heavenly Father, making intercession for us.
Elder Neil Phelan, Jr.
successfulsavior.org