Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 NIVUK
Have you ever been trapped inside a bureaucratic nightmare, trying to get something done but finding that nothing you do works? I have. With my whole family. When I wasn't even two years old, we were moved by our council from a building that was due to be condemned to a neighbourhood full of people who were condemned - a bad neighbourhood. My parents saw where they had been moved, saw just how bad it was and immediately applied to be re-housed. Time passed. Our little family extended from three people to six. The council wasn't listening. Some of the people in the neighbourhood gave us a really hard time. Still they didn't listen.
Seventeen years later, the older of my sisters cycled to church for a meeting. It was around one mile away. The whole way there and the whole way back local thugs from our neighbourhood threw stones at her. She could have been killed. She arrived home badly shaken. My dad called the police. It took them several hours to come to us.
My dad was furious. He wrote an angry letter to the Chief of Police stating everything that had happened. Three days later, we were in a new home in a safe area of a different town. He'd found someone who could listen and help. After seventeen years.
Listen to this parable from Jesus:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” ‘For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!” ’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’
Luke 18:1-8 NIVUK
This parable, and the verses from Philippians, tell us that God takes prayer seriously. So should we. Prayer is the Christian's path away from anxiety and towards peace. Psychologists and counsellors recommend prayer because they see it as a means of quietening our minds, stilling our thoughts, thinking clearly about our situation and coming up with a solution. It's way more than that for the Christian.
Two aspects of prayer are mentioned here. The first is general prayer, the type we do each day and in church during worship time. We're not necessarily asking for something. This is relational prayer - an expression of our connection with God. It's like a conversation we have with a friend or a loved one. The second is specifically request or intercessory prayers, where we ask God for something for ourselves or other people. If one type of prayer is like a phone call or text message with a friend, then the second is like a wish list for a wedding or a birthday.
Both are necessary for us to make the journey from anxiety and worry to peace. One cannot work without the other. Intercessory prayer without relational prayer seems out of place. It's like asking a stranger to buy you a present. Relational prayer without intercessory prayer seems odd. If you are in need and you have a friend who could meet that need, why wouldn't you ask them?
Sometimes our needs are so great that we simply can't get the words out, when it even seems difficult to express how we feel. Even this level of suffering is acknowledged by God (Psalms 38:8; 2 Corinthians 5:1-4; Romans 8:22-23).
But the Bible tells us that even the Holy Spirit groans before God on our behalf (Romans 8:26-27)!
Could you imagine appearing before a king or queen, a president or a prime minister, and just groaning? I don't think you'd be there for very long. People would say you're crazy! But the Lord allows us to bring our needs to Him, even through wordless, pained groans, and He knows exactly what to do about them (Matthew 6:7-8).
The Lord wants us to pray as an expression of our relationship to Him. He knows us and He knows our needs. He will always answer in a way that is right for us.
The Bible has something wonderful to tell us about prayer. There is a lot going on in the book of Revelation: so much worship, so much suffering, so much pain. Yet in the middle of all the noise, we see this:
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Revelation 8:1-5 NIVUK
Understand this: our prayers are so powerful because the whole of heaven is silenced for half an hour so that they can come before the Throne of God. What a thought!
There is one final verse about prayer we should consider:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16 NIVUK
It's Jesus' sacrifice on the cross that truly opens up the way for us to enter the Throne of God with our prayers. That possibility was bought with a huge price. Not only that, but we have a Saviour and Lord who has experienced every detail of what it feels like to be us. So why wouldn't we pray?
We also see mentioned here the concept of thankfulness. Now, we understand this. Every Thursday people in the UK clapped at 8pm for ten weeks to give thanks to the healthcare workers who are on the front line fighting against Coronavirus. We understand that. They deserve our thanks.
But do you realise that thankfulness is actually an important way to keep our minds healthy? The Bible talks a lot about being thankful and grateful, as I'm sure you can guess it would. Often the thanksgiving is deserved and for something obvious, like a harvest or a miraculous intervention or victory in battle (Psalms 9:1;Psalms 100:4-5).
Again, we understand this. We get it. We know that not everyone does it, as happened when Jesus healed ten lepers and was only thanked by the Samaritan one (Luke 17:11-19), but we understand the concept.
However, there is also this verse:
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18NIVUK
Give thanks in all circumstances? How can we do that? If we are in a bad place right now - and, let's face it, most of us will be at some point - then this is how we can get ourselves out of it. Married couples in trouble are sometimes asked to sit down and list their partner's good points. The idea is that this moves the focus from their flaws, which everyone has, to the things their partner is good at. Giving thanks works the same way. It lifts our focus from the things that make us sad to the things that make us happy. It lifts our spirits, makes us feel less sad and gives us other reasons to get up in the morning.
It's why Paul also gave this command to the church in Philippi:
Do everything without grumbling or arguing
Philippians 2:14 NIVUK
You don't grumble about something if you're grateful for it. The two states cannot exist at the same time. Grumbling and complaining pull us down. They are negative attitudes that force us to focus on the worst parts of our situation. Thanksgiving is a positive attitude that forces us to focus on the best parts of our situation. In a situation like ours, we must seek the positive. We must give thanks. To do otherwise will increase our risk of getting ill.
So what are you grateful for? Small blessings give us a reason to be thankful.
If we have a naturally negative mindset, this won't come easy. It will take effort. However, if we can thank God for at least one new thing every day then that can change. So we've seen four traits of a healthy mind: joyfulness, reasonableness, prayerfulness and thankfulness. The last trait is MINDFULNESS.
Prayer is the key to fellowship and trust in the Father. God hears and answers our prayers. We need to guard our hearts and minds.