Slideshow image

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

This is a common passage that we share with friends who worry. We say, “Don’t worry about it—pray about it. Remember everything that God has done for you as you pray. God will then guard your heart and mind as you lean into Christ.” That’s not wrong, but the directness of such counsel can sometimes bypass the richness found in these verses.

Taking a deeper dive into this passage today helped me. Paul wrote this from prison, probably in Rome, after hearing about two people in the Philippian church who were relationally at odds with one another (Euodia and Syntyche). This instruction was given in the context of an anxiety-causing situation, while Paul himself was also living in one. Specifically, he was addressing the division that arises when brothers and sisters in Christ are not getting along.

The Greek verb used for “be anxious” is μεριμνάω (merimnaō), and it means to be pulled apart, to be divided or distracted, to have the mind fragmented by competing concerns. Euodia and Syntyche were divided; their minds were settled on different beliefs. Some of my most unsettling, anxiety-causing situations in life have been when I’ve been in conflict with someone in the body of Christ. Especially concerning are those situations when you’ve done everything you can to live at peace, but the other side is unwilling—or not yet ready—to reconcile. What’s a person to do?

Paul says: pray. The word for prayer used commonly in the New Testament—here as well—carries the meaning of moving toward God or having a desire to be close to Him. When we experience difficulties that cause anxiety, our driving desire should be to draw near to God. And when life is good, we should desire the same. Paul is essentially saying, “Got a problem? Stop worrying about it on your own and go to God and tell Him about it.”

When our desire is to be close to God, we should come with a spirit of thanksgiving, recognizing that He is our greatest source of help. As followers of Christ, we have been given the greatest gift from God—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for our salvation. The word used here for thanksgiving is εὐχαριστίας (eucharistias). That’s why more liturgical traditions and denominations refer to the Lord’s Supper as the Eucharist—we are remembering our greatest reason to be thankful. Paul is saying that every Christ-follower has the gift of salvation that overshadows any reason for anxious thoughts—take it from the guy writing from prison.

It is then that the peace of God settles on us—the peace that surpasses all comprehension (ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν). This is not a peace that can be manufactured through increased knowledge, but one that is experienced through intimate closeness to the presence of God. In that closeness, God protects us from the enemy, who desires to use difficult situations to distract us and cause us to sin by depending more on ourselves and the world’s remedies than on Him and His finished victory.

My prayer for us is that we would draw close to God in prayer with whatever worries we have. May this Advent journey be one that sets us on a new path where we practice εὐχαριστίας every day and experience deeper peace through our greater closeness to God.