{"id":28780,"date":"2015-11-23T00:20:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T05:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=28780"},"modified":"2015-11-22T23:17:27","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T04:17:27","slug":"worry-versus-thankfulness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/11\/23\/worry-versus-thankfulness\/","title":{"rendered":"Worry versus Thankfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. <\/span>
\nTell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. <\/span>
\nPhilippians 4:6 NLT<\/span><\/p>\n

Do not be anxious or worried about anything, <\/span>
\nbut in everything [every circumstance and situation] <\/span>
\nby prayer and petition with thanksgiving, <\/span>
\ncontinue to make your [specific] requests known to God. <\/span>
\nAmplified Version<\/span><\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

God does expect us to care about our lives (and about the lives of others). \u00a0But when that caring becomes filled with anxiety and fear, it is counterproductive and wrong. \u00a0Life presents us with many things to worry about—family, friends, relationships, jobs, finances…and on and on. \u00a0There\u2019s no end to this list if we let ourselves go there. \u00a0However, God\u2019s Word tells us to do something<\/em><\/strong> very different about all those things. \u00a0He tells us not<\/strong> to worry, not<\/strong> to be anxious about anything. That\u2019s a tall order, but it is possible<\/span>. \u00a0How? \u00a0God says, \u201cPray.\u201d<\/p>\n

I urge, then, first of all,
\nthat petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving
\nbe made for all people.
\n1 Timothy 2:1<\/p>\n

These Scriptures in Philippians and 1 Timothy tell us to pray about every<\/em>thing-<\/strong>–every circumstance, every situation, every person in our life. \u00a0We are to tell God about everything we need (and even the things we perceive we need.) \u00a0Why? Because He cares about you (each of us.)<\/p>\n

Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
\n1 Peter 5:7<\/p>\n

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life\u2014
\nwhether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.
\nIsn\u2019t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
\nMatthew 6:25<\/p>\n

When we pray, our focus is more on God and His mercy, grace, and provision. The more we pray, the more our mind is filled with Him. \u00a0It leaves less room for worry.<\/p>\n

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You,
\nall whose thoughts are fixed on You!
\nIsaiah 26:3<\/p>\n

How often do you start your prayers with \u201cThank You, God\u2026.\u201d? \u00a0I know I do pretty often. \u00a0In spite of my needs at the moment, I have so much to thank God for that I can\u2019t pray without saying, \u201cThank You.\u201d \u00a0He gave me the gift of salvation many, many years ago. \u00a0God has protected my family and me over the years. \u00a0He has seen me through many trials, and supplied for my needs. \u00a0Because of His faithfulness in the past, I can trust Him to care for me now and in the future. \u00a0Even as I write this, I am compelled to stop and say \u201cThank You, Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n

During this Thanksgiving season, make it a point to \u201cthank Him for all He has done<\/em><\/span>,\u201d (Philippians 4:6) for all He is doing, and for all that He will be doing in your life. \u00a0Then make it a way of life to thank Him daily. \u00a0When caring starts to turn into worry…stop and pray with thanksgiving…reminding yourself how much He has done for you, and how much He cares for you. \u00a0Prayer, petition, and thanksgiving will bring you closer to God and farther away from anxiety and worry. \u00a0That\u2019s what we all want, right?<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Lord God, as humans we are presented with things to worry about almost daily. \u00a0But You said, \u201cDon\u2019t!\u201d \u00a0Instead of worrying, You said, \u201cPray!\u201d And pray \u201c…about everything!\u201d \u00a0Lord, we need our hearts and our minds open to Your Holy Spirit to help us to pray without worry, and to pray with thanksgiving. \u00a0We have so much to be thankful for, and when we take time to be thankful our trust level goes up, and worry is pushed back. \u00a0That\u2019s what we want, Lord. \u00a0Thank You for caring for us even beyond our comprehension. \u00a0May we grow in our trust that You will see us through the hard times. \u00a0You have done and are doing so much for us, thank You, thank You! \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 Precious Name we pray, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. Amplified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":22736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[1176,9709,9708,3660,3367,9711,425,534,9710,2233,790,3174,1059,9618,1083,1241,9707],"class_list":["post-28780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-1-peter-57","tag-1-timothy-21","tag-care","tag-clella-gilbert-fox","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-focus","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-isaiah-263","tag-matthew-625","tag-philippians-46","tag-pray","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-thanksgiving","tag-thanksgiving-devotions","tag-trust","tag-worry","tag-worry-versus-thankfulness","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-7uc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28780"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28782,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28780\/revisions\/28782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}