Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Praying Rather Than Working Hard
I have heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder” or something like that, but I think it’s better to say “pray harder so you don’t have to work harder.” When we spend so much time trying to fix our problems, we often overlook the simplicity of just praying to God for help. Why not pray for His help? You will soon discover that He is more than willing to help you, and you might not have to work as hard to fix your problems. I am a typical male. I want to fix things. That’s good in a way, but sometimes my wife just wants me to listen to her and not try to fix everything. The same goes with prayer. God wants us to share our difficulties with Him and not try to fix it all ourselves. In the process, we might find out that He does a much better job than we do in fixing our problems.
God Fixes Brokenness
I love to say that God cannot fix what is first not broken, and by that I mean God will help a person who humbles themselves and sees their need for Him. If a person feels they are complete in themselves, then God cannot fix them. God will resist the pride-filled person (James 4:6). It’s as simple as that. The same thing could apply to our problems. I get myself in some pretty fine messes, but I have learned, unfortunately from being in so many messes, that God loves to help us when we can’t help ourselves. The saying that God helps those who help themselves is not really true. Rather, God helps those who cannot help themselves because then He receives the glory. God doesn’t like sharing His glory with anyone else (Isaiah 42:8), and why should He? He is God! If we get anxious about anything–and that covers everything–then take it to God and let your requests be made known to Him (Phil. 4:6). If you do, then the peace of God will give you peace of mind, and that peace from God will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ (Phil. 4:7).
Let God Be God
How can we let God be God when we are trying to be our own god in a sense? What I am trying to say is that God is sovereign over everything in our lives. We can trust Him to know that whatever happens, whether good or bad, it all works together for our best (Rom. 8:28). What I work together for my best and on my own always seems to work out for the worst. How about you? Do you sometimes work so hard trying to fix your problems that you don’t have time to pray? That’s a mistake I’ve learned the hard way far too many times to count. Trust God, pray about everything, and let God be God. Sometimes we just need to get out of the way.
A Closing Prayer
Holy, Righteous God, You alone know all things, and those things hidden from my eyes are sometimes those things that I blindly try to fix on my own. Please give me the wisdom, by Your Spirit, to know when to pray and when to fix things but the wisdom to know when to do which, and in Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen
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