Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Dear God, there have been times during difficult trials that I’ve had to lean on passages like this and I had varying degrees of success. Sometime I have done it right, come to you, laid it at your feet, experienced peace, and things even worked out in a good way. Then there were times when I went through trials and I was so distraught I didn’t know how to pray. And then there are the trials I just tried to fix on my own. And sometimes my solution works, but I miss you, your power and glory, and your peace in the process.

When I was unemployed in 2003 & 2005, I came up with a line that there’s a fine line between living by faith and living in denial. I can say I’m praying about something, and I can say that I have faith that God (you) will provide, but the truth is I’m just ignoring it and hoping it all works out. That is dangerous on a lot of levels, but again it misses out on an opportunity to grow closer to you. It is good to pray and have faith that you will provide, but it is not good to abdicate response and wait for you to fix my situation without knocking on different doors to see if you will open them as a way out.

Father, help me to always bring my little problems and my big problems to you. Help me to experience your peace and joy in a complete and unreasonable way. Give me that peace that passes all understanding and then help me to share that peace and the pathway that leads to it with others.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen