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Writer's pictureElijah McSwain

How To Overcome Worry: Petition God With Thanksgiving

Updated: Jul 26, 2023


July 4, 2023

Written By Elijah McSwain, Sr.

Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV — 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.

Anxiety or worry is a perplexing emotion that millions of people are affected by. Anxiety is a troubling state that produces great distress or uneasiness of mind. It is a mental battle that many individuals face as a result of being overwhelmed by the problematic issues, hardships and trials of life.

Emotional and psychological disturbances arise due to the daunting tribulations that come upon a person individually in association with the difficult times that unfold in life. Devastating factors such as the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, undergoing financial burdens, the diagnosis of some illness, being involved in an unhealthy relationship, the stress of dealing with an unfavorable work environment, the responsibility of juggling every aspect of the adult life, and much more, all affect our outlook on life. If careful attention is not given to these types of circumstances, anxiety has a way of creeping in.

Often being anxious in these types of situations is the outcome, first, due to a lack of trust in God, secondly, due to a failure of acknowledging God’s sovereignty over the pains and woes of life, and thirdly, it is the aftermath of being self-reliant. Approaching life in such a manner of disregarding God and resorting to one’s own resources, intellect, and power as a means to handle the adversities of life will leave people emotionally, mentally, and spiritually depleted.

The mind is a breeding ground for all types of thoughts to develop when problems are present in our lives. Our minds can often be divided on matters of the heart.

Being anxious means to have a mind divided between legitimate thoughts and destructive thoughts. Destructive thoughts will choke out the Word of God and cause believers to abandon trust. 1

Therefore, if life is only handled from a horizontal perspective by leaning to our own understanding, then life will cause us to drown in sorrow and hopelessness. However, as it has been discussed in the blog entitled, How To Overcome Worry: Engage In Prayer, we cannot handle life from a horizontal perspective, but we must shift our perspective upward or vertical by engaging in prayer. The act of directing our attention unto God in prayer demonstrates that we trust Him to provide resolve for our problems. We trust Him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Therefore, Paul encouraged his audience to let their requests be made known unto God in a thankful manner.

Petition God With Thanksgiving

As we petition God by letting our requests be made known unto Him, the manner in which we approach God is of great significance. The Apostle Paul gives us insight that we are not to come before God in a grumbling manner, with a murmuring spirit, nor an irritable temperament, nor as being contentious, not being bitter, nor coming to Him with a harsh tone but we are to come before Him with a posture that displays a thankful heart.

Several questions may be running through your mind at this present moment as to how you can be thankful when you are going through adversity. You may ask:

  • How can I be thankful when death has invaded the ranks of my family?

  • How can I be thankful when my body is plagued with affliction?

  • How can I be thankful when I am being oppressed?

  • How can I be thankful when I am being verbally abused?

  • How can I be thankful when I am being lied on?

  • How can I be thankful when my children are being difficult?

  • How can I be thankful when my home is in disarray?

  • How can I be thankful when my marriage is on the rocks?

  • How can I be thankful in the midst of all my problems and uncertainties?

The answer to these questions is quite simple, because of God.

We can be thankful in everything because God’s grace is sufficient to meet our needs. We can be thankful in everything because God is in control. We can be thankful in everything contingent upon the fact that all things work together for the good of them that love God (Romans 8:28). We can be thankful in everything because God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). Therefore, in everything we should learn how to take a posture of being thankful despite the calamity going on in our lives.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV— In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

God has a purpose for everything that happens to the believer. God’s providential plan for our lives includes all contingencies. God foresees every circumstance that comes into our lives. Not only does He foresee everything that happens to us, but He providentially plans or allows each situation that comes into our lives. 2

When unsettling things come upon us in life, we can exhibit thanksgiving that God is in the midst of our unpleasant distress, and He will act upon our behalf. Paul does not make the declaration to be thankful for everything but in everything give thanks. This by no means is a statement to downplay our problems but it is a statement to declare that our problems can be handled by casting them before God. To know that God is our Helper should cause thanksgiving to be shown toward Him in prayer. There is a stark contrast in giving thanks “for” everything and “in” everything. If we were of the mindset to give thanks “for” everything, that would insinuate that we would give thanks for the schemes of Satan, his tactics, his ploys, and his operation in the world’s system that has a devastating effect on believers. Regardless, of the situation that we might find ourselves in, thanks should be given in everything.

"It appears that Paul saw prayer as the fitting human response to every conceivable situation that might arise in life; and the position of this phrase at the beginning of a long clause would make it applicable throughout the clause, with the meaning that “thanksgiving” should characterize every prayer, no matter what unusual or extreme life-situation might have triggered the prayer. But how can anyone be thankful “in everything”? This writer is indebted to George Henry Stephenson for a sermon delivered at Highland congregation in Memphis, Tennessee, which stressed the following: In youth one may thank God for the brightness and prospect of life beckoning to the future. In age one may thank God that life has extended so long. In health one may thank God for the greatest of physical blessings. In illness one may thank God for wise physicians, kind nurses and the tender concern of loved ones. In wealth one may thank God for having been made the steward of such large accounts. In poverty one may thank God for him, who though he was rich became poor that he might make many rich, and for His special promise, “Blessed are ye poor.” In the event of great loss one may thank God for blessings he is yet permitted to retain. In death itself the Christian can thank God for the hope of eternal life."3


Whatever predicament we find ourselves in, thanksgiving should be our response in prayer. Our prayers should be saturated with thanksgiving. A thankful mindset enables our prayers to be shaped by gratitude.

"Authentic prayer involves thanksgiving to God. One reason many of us worry is because we are ungrateful people." 4

As believers we have much to be grateful for. When we come to the realization of who God is in our struggles and look upward to God for His dependence, we will quickly discover that we have a vast number of reasons to be thankful. It is in those moments of shifting our perspective to a higher atmosphere that we realize no matter what we are going through God is able and more than capable of providing deliverance from the things that imprison us in the confines of our minds, the things that suppress our joy, and the things that rob us of our peace.

Gratitude should be our mental focus and spiritual focus because God is able to sympathize with us. Hebrews 4:15-16 states "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

The fact that Jesus took on human flesh while He was on earth shows forth that He is able to sympathize with us. He understands what it means to be human. Jesus understands:

  • What it means to face obstacles (religious leaders of His day).

  • What it means to lose a loved one (Lazarus).

  • What it means to be ostracized.

  • What it means to do without.

  • Matthew 8:20 NKJV — And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

  • He knows what it means to be betrayed (Judas Iscariot).

  • He knows what it is like to struggle with a difficult situation as in the Garden of Gethsemane as He was facing death.

  • Mark 14:34 NKJV — He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

  • Luke 22:44 NKJV — And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

  • He was in agony because He knew that He would experience the divine wrath of His Father against Him as He would bear the sins of the world.

  • His humanity caused Him to ponder the reality of His impending crucifixion.

  • Mark 14:36 NKJV He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

Jesus knows what it means to be human as He was tempted in all points of His life, yet He did not sin. He was tempted 40 days in the wilderness by Satan (Luke 4:2). He was tempted with hunger (Luke 4:4). He was tempted when Satan showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and declared to give it to Him if He would bow down to worship before him. Jesus was tempted by Satan, when he made the statement, "if you are the Son of God throw Yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple, for it is written He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep you and in their hands, they shall bear You up lest You dash your foot against a stone" (Luke 4:9-11).


Satan’s temptations were based on trying to get Jesus to act in His own self-interest, it served as an attempt for Jesus to forsake the plan of God for His life by drawing claim to His throne immediately, and it served as a way for Jesus to rely totally upon Himself and thus, abandon His dependency on God. Satan essentially tempted Jesus in all points of life that pertains to the three categories by which all sins fall under 1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eyes, and 3) the pride of life. Since Jesus was tempted in all points of life yet without sin, He is able to help us in our perplexing situations.


Hebrews 2:18 NKJV — For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

The temptations that Jesus faced shows forth that He is able to be compassionate with the temptations that all believers are challenged with. Nevertheless, Jesus expects believers to overcome adversity, overcome worry, overcome agony, and overcome sorrow because He overcame. Therefore, we can be thankful that He is able to sympathize with us even in our infirmities, weaknesses, moments of despair, misery, toils, dangers, battles, struggles, and frantic moments.

When life is seemingly getting the best of us, we need recall to mind the words of Scripture:

  • Psalm 107:21 NKJV — Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness.

  • Psalm 106:1 NKJV — Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

  • Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV — Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

When we have the proper attitude in prayer despite our circumstances, we can continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2).

Prayer is an undertaking where other things can detour us easily from engaging in it. We cannot afford to fall asleep with our prayer lives. Prayer prepares us for whatever we may face in this life. Therefore, prayer gives way for the power of God to be made manifest in trying times that we may overcome. Continue to pray. Never stop praying. Pray with believing expectation. Pray with a heart of thanksgiving.

Praying with thanksgiving helps us to evade being a prisoner of anxiety. Therefore, be anxious for nothing, be prayerful in everything, and have a thankful temperament in anything.


References

  1. The Jeremiah Study Bible

  2. Grant Richison. Verse By Verse Commentary.

  3. James Burton Coffman. “Commentary on Philippians 4:6”. “Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible”.

  4. HB Charles, Jr. It Happens After Prayer



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