In All Your Ways

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6

About our worries or anxieties (probably throw in fears too), we must be willing to ‘present’ them to God. Somehow, we must push through the panic and think through who has the answer to our needs. These needs are what we are to articulate (requests) to the Lord in the form of our prayers and petitions, along with the SPIRIT of thanksgiving. From my experience, what doesn’t work is: Anger; finger pointing; playing the victim and whining. God is not moved by our tantrums. What He wants to see is our trust, expressed in our prayers to Him, rather than our spinning out with worry, or venting in anger to others. The Lord is waiting to listen to our prayers:

…BUT WE HAVE TO ASK HIM…

“In all your ways acknowledge Him…” Proverbs 3:6a

Life boils down to our ‘ways’ or God’s way. The road or course we take through life. But along the ‘way’, there will be fears and anxieties, so we ask God for His help. Is this not an acknowledgment that we don’t know what to do? God is a perfect gentleman - He will never (though He could) force us to do anything. He grants us the choice to choose Him. But He won’t huff and puff and blow our house down. He patiently stands at the door of our heart and knocks (Revelation 3:20). It’s up to us to open the door and let Him in. We do this by asking Him. If we don’t, He honors our decision. Just like the wedding at Cana: Jesus was there because He was invited. Once there, Jesus was enabled to turn the water into wine.

…AND THEN FOLLOW HIS ADVICE.

“…And He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6b

If we ask God for help, yet ignore His advice, what good did it do to ask? Like the rich young ruler - he asked Jesus, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus told him to sell everything and give it to the poor. The young man went away sad because he didn’t want to do it. Sometimes we ask God a question, and then we don’t like His answer or solution. So we wrestle with God’s way or ours. The best outcome for every situation in life is to follow God’s lead. The Lord always knows the straight path to success.