I should know this, right?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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 minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6

Pride almost kept me from posting this today.

Let me explain.

This verse is extremely familiar. It is committed to my memory. It is sold at Christian bookstores as ornate wall hangings, coffee cups, letter headers, card closers, bumper stickers, etc. And all this is very good.

What’s not very good is that, overtime, I can get desensitized to the depth of its meaning and the importance of its content.

As you know, Brent and I are walking through some car issues right now. The truth about car issues is that they are not just car issues. Car issues are money issues. And they require a lot of decision making. A lot of prayer. And can bring a lot of stress.

In my quiet time yesterday morning I come here. Philippians 4:6. Do not be anxious about anything. Wow. Let that one fall on you fresh.

I will be honest, it is a stretch of my faith to imagine myself completely anxiety-free.

But, do I believe the Word of God? Absolutely.

Do I believe it is infallible? Absolutely.

Do I believe God can perform His Word? Absolutely.

But you know, sometimes, the Word requires action on my part. “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

So back to my pride.

I’m going to be honest and tell you I had NO idea what it really meant or looked like to make a petitionto God. Some translations say by prayer and supplication. I really had no idea whatsupplication looked like. But I want to live anxiety-free. I want the peace of God to transcend all my understanding….so I thought I best get some understanding, first.

When I think of petition I think of the spiral notebook that traveled around my seventh grade class in a failed effort to get a longer lunch period. Or signing a petition to get prayer back in school. But a petition to God?

Petition: an earnest request: ENTREATY. A formal written request made to an official person.

Supplication: to make a humble entreaty. To ask for earnestly and humbly. A plea.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of anyone more official than the Creator of the Universe.

A formal, written request. A humble entreaty. An earnest plea. On it.

So I grab my husband and a legal pad and write out this Scripture. Then write our requests to God.

Our hearts are heavy at the moment regarding our transmission, my grandmother and some discipline issues with the boys. We list them. We make our petition. Then we pray. And we thank Him. And we claim the peace that His Word gives…..that Christ died to give.

Did peace immediately fall upon us? I’d say yes. It was so good for Brent and me to come together in agreement and give this to the Lord. It is all His anyway. It was really an act of giving it back. And to remember that He’s got this. It’s already done. His perfect, good will. Done. I trust Him.

Christ guards our hearts and minds. And gives us peace.

Thank you God for caring about this. Thank you for giving me understanding. Thank you for meeting us here. I can’t wait to watch you work. I can’t wait to give you all the Glory.

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Speaking of giving glory….I have to praise the Lord for my neice Olivia that accepted Jesus into her heart last night. We praise you, Father!