Prayer + Thankfulness = Peace

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

You know, its really weird but over these past months I’m learning the awesome value of prayer. I say, learning… because of my thick head, it is a lesson that God has to show me again and again. Yet, there are some days that I treasure. I treasure just the closeness of walking with my Heavenly Father and seemingly I feel Him just a breath away… then there are other days when He feels so distant, especially when I’ve messed up and did not follow where He wanted to lead me. Those times, those days I really regret… there’s just such heaviness, an ugliness about me that seems to just plague my old head and tries to keep me beat down.

Yet, when I pray… when I’m cleansed by a heart-prayer, and Father reminds me of Christ’s sacrifice… and that I’m his son, and that I’m forgiven then I feel the burdened lifted and I’m reminded of the simple and yet powerful faith and joy found in Him.

I’m learning… to say this prayer quickly… to forgive myself more quickly… and dismiss thoughts of condemnation, thoughts of ‘how bad I am’ and thoughts of doubt… like, ‘God can’t hear your prayer’… such thoughts are not Heavenly… so I just flip those thoughts around… I think instead, “yea, I’m bad… we all are, but Christ is good and I choose to be clothed in Him!” And, “God can hear me, He’s my Father-He will never leave nor forsake me”. And this gets the eyes of my heart looking upward… instead of on Mike and you know that heaviness just rolls off my back… and I usually sing my Father a little song or began whistling a tune…

So, consider giving that a try… mix some prayer and some thankfulness into your busy day… and I bet you a bucket full of worry that peace will begin to flow into your heart… and your day will be a treasure… walking with your Heavenly Father!