Tuesday Devo
Scripture Reading:
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Commentary from the ESV Study Bible:
4:6–7 Paul echoes Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 6:25–34) that believers are not to be anxious but are to entrust themselves into the hands of their loving heavenly Father, whose peace will guard them in Christ Jesus. Paul’s use of “guard” may reflect his own imprisonment or the status of Philippi as a Roman colony with a military garrison. In either case, it is not Roman soldiers who guard believers—it is the peace of God Almighty. Because God is sovereign and in control, Christians can entrust all their difficulties to him, who rules over all creation and who is wise and loving in all his ways (Rom. 8:31–39). An attitude of thanksgiving contributes directly to this inward peace.
Study Questions:
- Philippians 4:6-7 is a promise from God. It's a classic IF/THEN proposition from the Lord. IF we pray and tell God what we need, THEN he will give us the peace we need. Think of a time when you were under immense pressure or stress or faced a difficult situation, you were faithful to pray about it, and God gave you peace in the middle of your storm. Write about that experience in your journal. What is it like to have peace that "exceeds anything we can understand?"
- "Do not worry about anything." Simple enough, right? Haha, easier said than done! I think what Paul is saying here is that INSTEAD of worrying, we should pray. Like, praying is the solution to the worry. Craig Groeschel once said, "Worry or stress in our life is a signal that we should pray... if it's big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about." I guess that's one reason Paul tells us to pray about EVERYTHING. I don't know about you, but I tend to reserve my prayers for the big stuff. But what would happen if we prayed about everything, even the little, seemingly insignificant stuff? What if we got in the habit of saying a quick prayer every single time we felt that little tinge of worry creeping up? Paul tells us what will happen... God will give us peace. What are some small things you need to start praying about? How do you work this into real life?
Pray:
- That you would take God up on his promise to give you peace if you pray.
- That you would learn to pray about everything, even the small stuff.
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