Tell God What You Need

Philippians 4:6(NLT), "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." 

When something is too simple we find it easier and more realistic to not trust it.  But in this verse  our Heavenly Father tells us not to worry about ANYTHING! That includes relationships.  It includes finances, health, or any  circumstance that would cause us to stress. Even when it’s right down to the wire, and we don’t know how we’re going to make it another day, our Heavenly Father tells us to give it all to Him in prayer. 

2Corinthians 13:5 (NIV) tells us, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?” 

Faith is real and we'll know if we have it when we're faced with situations that call on upon us to activate it.  It's one of the spiritual blessings that was made possible through our Lord and Savior. When it comes to exercising our faith, it is not enough for a person to simply say they have faith. Our confession must be backed up with action. James 2:26 says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Just as positive actions and good works enforces our faith, worry and anxiety enforce our fear. 

I definitely know a thing or two about anxiety. I was recently reminded of when I first encountered it. I was a little girl and my father used to pick us up from my grandmother's house to drive us home. My father was notorious for driving fast. Everyone knew he was a fearless driver, but I was not inclined to recognize his fearless prowess behind the wheel. But what I do remember is the gut wrenching fear that would engulf me as soon as I knew my father was going to pick me up and drive me home. It took twelve minutes to get home from my grandmother's house and that is exactly how long I would remain in fear and anxiety from his driving.

Anxiety is defined as our body’s natural response to the stresses of life. It is a feeling of fear about what might happen. By its very definition, we know that anxiety is on the opposite side of faith.  Accepting the gift of salvation requires that we make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. He’s the head, and this is a role that cannot be shared or divided; it must be fully occupied by the Lord Jesus Christ. 

He tells us as much in Matthew 6:24. In this verse, Jesus said no person can serve two masters, we will either hate one and love the other or vice versa. Jesus has given us a foundational truth about how God has created human beings. All of us will serve a master, and we each must make a choice about who and what will govern our lives. The ambivalence argument won’t hold water. There’s no in-between stuff with God. We’re either all in with Him through Christ or not. This is a choice all of us must make. 

One of the ways that we demonstrate our faith in God through the Lord Jesus Christ is with our emotions. God has told us to take authority over our emotions through prayer, faith, and gratitude. Our Heavenly Father is very patient with us throughout our lives, and He loves us very much, and this is why our faith is so important to Him. Anxiety is a natural response to stressful situations. For a lot of us, it’s the go-to response, but God has commanded us to be governed by the Spirit of Christ within. This means that despite of what our body is telling us to feel, we continue to confess our faith in the promises of God and choose to allow our actions to follow our faith and not our fear.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Tell God What You Need”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.