Dear
Church,
Let
thanksgiving fill your hearts as you pray.
I make
lists of things I am thankful for. I write these in my spiritual journal. I
write them on 3X5 cards, and carry them with me. I keep them before me,
re-reading and re-pondering them throughout the day. The result is, I often
experience a heart that overflows with gratitude towards God. This is a good
spiritual place for me to be. It also affects my times of praying.
The apostle
Paul says our prayers should be accompanied “with thanksgiving.” In Philippians
4:6 we read,
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
New
Testament scholar Ben Witherington has written that Paul believes there is much
to be said for praying in the right spirit or frame of mind. This is
significant for the Roman Philippians, since pagan prayers did not include
thanksgiving. Roman prayers were often fearful, bargaining prayers, not based
on a relationship with some god.
Witherington
adds: “Prayer with the attitude of thanksgiving is a stress-buster.” John
Wesley said that thanksgiving is the surest evidence of a soul free from
anxiety.
Paul's
antidote for worry and anxiety is praying, with thanksgiving.
Love,
PJ
(I recognize that there are clinical, neurophysical conditions that
cause anxiety and fear. The antidote for such conditions may be medications.
But even when medications stabilize a person's emotions, issues of trust may
remain. Medication will not fully help a person when the only chair they have
keeps breaking, but it may help them access the spiritual help they need.
If you have
severe anxiety I recommend two things:
1) Praying, and having people pray for you.
2) Seeing a physician who is skilled in treating you physically.
Combine spiritual intervention with medical intervention.)
JOURNAL
Write
a list, in your journal, of things you are thankful for.
Look
at it often.
Add to
it as it happens.
From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.
