We all know what it feels like to be anxious. Maybe it’s a doctor’s appointment, an upcoming test, or maybe the moment you see flashing lights in your rearview mirror. Either way, it’s never a great feeling, and we hope it passes quickly. For many, anxiety does not pass. Millions of people live a large portion of their lives feeling overwhelmed and suffocated by anxiousness, unable to break free of its paralyzing effects. With each passing year, anxiety, worry, stress, and fear are spreading and so are their effects. Yet scripture reveals a remedy. A hopeful ray of sunlight in an otherwise potentially dire existence.

It’s an interesting thought presented by Paul in his letter to the Philippians. Keep in mind that Paul was in prison when he penned this letter. He too was in a dire circumstance, facing death, with as much a right as any to dwell in his anxious thoughts. Yet he reminds the church to present their requests to God with thanksgiving and gratitude, without anxiousness or worry. In many ways, these two; anxiousness and gratitude are totally and complete opposites of each other. You cannot hold both gratitude and anxiousness in your heart at the same time because to hold gratitude is to think about what you possess, while anxiousness is to focus on what you do not. Anxiety is full of loss. A loss of joy, a loss of peace, a loss of hope, a loss of purpose. Yet a switch can be flipped in your heart and mind. Gratitude in the presence of prayer is that switch.

Paul even tells the reader exactly what happens when we come before God with thanksgiving. He conveys that the result of this approach will be an outpouring of peace where it didn’t previously exist. And this peace will fill your heart and guard your mind because Jesus has now permeated that space through a simple invitation. Paul echoes this idea of gratitude in prayer throughout all of his letters: in Ephesians 5:20 he tells us to always give thanks to God for everything. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18.  He tells us that giving thanks at all times is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. In Colossians 3:17 he articulates that everything we say or do should be done in the name of Jesus as we give thanks to Him. In 1 Timothy 4:4  Paul says that food and marriage are to be received with thanksgiving and gratitude to God. This idea of gratitude in all situations did not originate with Paul. He is simply echoing Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, in which Jesus said believers should not be anxious but are to entrust themselves into the hands of their loving, heavenly Father, whose peace will protect them in Christ Jesus. God wants to hear our requests, but a wise approach is to precede those petitions with thanksgiving and gratitude.

So what kind of things should be prayed about? All kinds of things; whatever is on your heart. A good place to start is with the things in your life that bring you the most fear, worry, and anxiousness. Think about this topic in your own life. What anxious thoughts are consuming your mind? How have those anxious and fearful thoughts helped (spoiler they haven’t)? How can you be more intentional about taking those thoughts to God and replacing them with gratitude? What are you grateful for even now in this moment?