The Surpassing Peace of God

Are you anxious about anything?

If you are, it seems you’ve got plenty of company. According to Mental Health America, 47 million Americans struggle with anxiety. That’s 19% of our country. And our state, Arizona, was in the bottom third of their rating. And that data is a few years old. Maybe it’s gotten better, but based on what I have been seeing and hearing, there hasn’t been a radical change.

Part of that might be because we feel like we have so much to be anxious about. We are anxious about our health, our finances, our relationships, our jobs, our country, our children, and our futures.

The crazy thing is, even with those broad categories, I easily may have missed something that you’re feeling really anxious about right now.

There are so many things for us to be anxious about because we are constantly being inundated with information. Everywhere we look we are being warned about this and that. To be worried about this thing that could lead to that thing and it all can be really overwhelming.

Part of the reason that we can get so overwhelmed is that we do not know what to do with all this information. We know some of it isn’t true. We know some of it isn’t that important. We know some of it isn’t half as urgent as people would like us to think. But how do we know what is true, important, and urgent?

Even if we can get down to that, then what? What are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to prepare? How are we supposed to respond? When you’re left with more questions than answers, you’re often left feeling more and more anxious.

We feel anxious because we know we’re not in control the way that we would like. Thankfully, God’s Word gives us some direction in dealing with our anxiety. (Php. 4:5-7) The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything. But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Whenever we are anxious, God gives to his children the wonderful gift and privilege of prayer.

But let’s understand how this wonderful gift and privilege is perfect for times when we are feeling anxious.

God is not saying that praying is a kind of prescription for anxiety. He is not telling us that if we pop a couple of prayer tablets all those anxious thoughts will melt away. If it worked like that, we might expect prayer to quickly slow down our heart rate, calm down our jitters, and relax our minds. Sometimes, when we get done praying, our hearts are still racing and our minds are still somewhat upset.

God is also not telling us that praying is like a kind of spiritual talk therapy. He is not saying that as we pray we will figure out ways to process and deal with the things that are making us anxious and be better prepared to handle that stuff in the future.

The wonderful gift and privilege of prayer is a dual statement. When we pray we are confessing our weakness. The things that we are praying for—whether we are thanking God for them or asking God for them—are beyond us. We need his help. We ought to keep that in mind.

But the second thing we are confessing is that we trust him. We trust that he is listening. We trust that he loves us, that he cares about us. We trust that he knows what is best for us and for all mankind.

Prayer is an expression of reliance upon a God who has proven himself to be reliable. And that is why we have peace.

We have peace because we know that God is listening to us, no matter how many times we have come to him with the same concerns or requests. We have peace because we know that God is wise. He doesn’t need us to tell him what he should do or how he should approach a situation or solve a problem. We have peace that God will do what is best. We have peace that God loves us. He gave his one and only Son for us and for our redemption. We have peace because we are praying to a God who is incredibly generous. We have peace because we are praying to a God who does miracles. He is far more powerful than we can ever know.

We have peace when we pray, not because we have God’s ear for a moment, but because we have his heart for eternity. We know who he is. We know what he promises. We know what he has done and even when we don’t know exactly what he is going to do, we know his nature. That gives us peace, even when we’re feeling anxious.