Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

I don’t know about you, but I still struggle with worry and anxiety sometimes—particularly if I am attached to a particular outcome about one circumstance or another in my life.

But Philippians 4:6 gives specific instructions on how to eliminate anxiety. The first part of the passage is almost a command—have no anxiety about anything. The second part tells us that we are to take everything to God in prayer. And the third instruction is to do that with thanksgiving. To thank Him in advance for the outcome—whatever that may be. That implies complete trust. A complete willingness to turn everything over to Him.

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It is easy to thank God for the blessings that we think are good. But it is much more difficult to thank God when we don’t know the outcome of something happening in our life, or when we disagree or have issues with the outcome He delivers! I don’t know about you, but I need help thanking Him in all circumstances. At times, I have to ask God for help with acceptance and saying “thank you” for a particular outcome. Even if I don’t mean it, I keep saying “Thank you, God” (sometimes out loud) until the acceptance comes and I finally believe and feel what I am saying.

When I do this, and my “thank you” becomes genuine, and I find that I do finally have that peace that surpasses all understanding. That I am grateful for things that even seem “bad” on the surface because I am able to see opportunities for spiritual growth in them. In Him, there is no anxiety at all.

Lord, please help me to trust in you more and more, and to fully understand that the outcomes you deliver in my life are there to help me grow closer to you. Help me to learn to say thank you in all circumstances and to really mean it.