Prayer Instead of Anxiety.

'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. '
Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice?  In the middle of pain and struggle, rejoice is not the first word that comes to mind.  Fret.  Worry.  Bemoan.  Fear.  Anxiety.  Those are the words that come to my mind naturally when I am faced with struggle and pain.  These are not the appropriate words to use to respond to pain and struggle.  Rejoice is.  How is that possible?  By prayer.  Paul exhorted the Philippians to prayer instead of anxiety.  Anxiety cripples while prayer empowers the believer to move forward, trusting God.

Four words are used here to describe a believer’s communion with God in prayer:  prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, requests.

Prayer is a believer’s approach to God. Seeking to find a private place to be able to
humble yourself, focus on meeting with God and hear God speak to you.  Waiting for God to speak and hear Him before speaking.

Supplication is more than petitioning: it’s an intensity of earnestness in extended prayer—
Not to gain merit by many words, but to fully transfer the burden of your soul into God’s
hands. Emphasizes laying or bringing the issues before God and waiting for His answers
and guidance to those specific needs. (This is why having a journal is extremely
important.) During this particular aspect of prayer, God may even give you certain instructions
or directions of how He wants you to walk in that situation.

Thanksgiving is an attitude of heart which should always govern our prayers. (Thankful that the God of the universe, our creator has also chosen us to identify Him as our loving
Heavenly Father.) Praying with thanksgiving involves trusting God’s love for us (Meaning:
having our best interest at heart) therefore having no anxiety.

Finally, once our heart is centered and we have heard from God and are being led by God then and only then we make the request.

Requests (αἰτήματα) speak of definite and specific things asked for.  Only after we have heard from God can we pray in agreement with God.

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