Latest / Prayer Before Work / S01E18-Before the Spiral Starts
Transcript
- Sean Graver: Is your mind already running at full speed before the days even started? Are you thinking about the to-do list, the conversation or some other thing you just can't control? Well, stop just for a couple of minutes. You don't have to figure it out right now. Let's bring it to God first. That's why you're here. So let's start with the reading Philippians chapter four, verses six and seven that says, 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. I want to slow down on the word guard. So the apostle Paul says the peace of God will guard your heart and mind. I'm thinking like a soldier standing watch. Paul's description here isn't really a passive one. It's a lot more like a protective one. It's very active and it's available right now before the day starts. If you'll bring what you're carrying to God instead of just trying to carry it yourself. mean, anxiety at work is real and it's not always irrational. There's real pressure. The stakes are real. The uncertainty is real. I don't want to... rush past that with a quick, just trust God, because that doesn't acknowledge what you're actually feeling. But here is what Paul is offering, not the removal of the hard thing, but a peace that doesn't make sense given the circumstances. Peace that transcends understanding, which means it doesn't come from the situation improving, it comes from somewhere else entirely. So the practice he gives is very specific. prayer, petition, thanksgiving, bring it to God, name it and come with gratitude even in the middle of it. That combination does something that willpower alone just can't do. You can't think your way out of anxiety, but you can pray your way into peace. So let's pray now. God, I'm bringing you the thing that's been running in the back of my mind since I woke up. You already know what it is. I'm naming it now out loud to you and I'm asking you to take it, not to make it disappear necessarily, but to stand guard over my heart and my mind so I can function today so I can be present, so I can be useful to the people around me without this thing consuming all of my time and thoughts. I choose to be anxious about nothing today because I believe you are bigger than everything. that isn't. Guard my mind today. I trust you, Jesus. Amen. All right, now go make today count.