Living Worry-Free

By Rev. Joseph Okpanachi

6.Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD

7.And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus

Philippians 4:6-7

As we proceed,  l want you to take note of the phrase, “…let your requests be made known unto God” in verse 6. So many times, we make our requests known to everyone else, except God, then when we fail to get what we want from men, we come back to God as a last resort. No! God wants us to look up to Him for our needs as well as our wants.

God wants us to live our lives worry-free and anxiety-free. He wants us to cast our cares on him once and for all

1 Peter 5:7 AMP

7.Casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns once and for all) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Verse 6 of our key text says – be careful for nothing. That phrase is a little obscure to us these days because of change in language. The NLT  translation puts it in more modern language: 

“Don’t worry about anything…”. 

The Bible encourages us not to worry about anything. You cannot worry and have faith in God at the same time. Knowing that there are situations and circumstances that may cause us to worry and become anxious, He tells us what to do:

“…..but in everything through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God”. 

Other translations put this part of the verse beautifully:

The Amplified Version: “…but in every circumstance and in everything by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving, continue TO MAKE YOUR WANTS KNOWN TO GOD”

The Message Translation: “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, LETTING GOD KNOW YOUR CONCERNS’

The Living Bible says: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; TELL GOD YOUR NEEDS, and DON’T FORGET TO THANK HIM FOR HIS ANSWERS”

Thanksgiving should always accompany our requests. Giving praise to God is a demonstration of faith,  especially when the result of our prayers have not materialized! So instead of worrying about the problem, make a definite request to God and thank Him for the answer. 

Then the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Anxiety, concerns and worry come to steal our joy and peace . But , when we make our requests known to God and praise Him for the answers to our prayers, then and only then can the peace of God displace anxiety and worry from our hearts and minds.

The Message Translation of Philippians 4:7 says, “Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life”

The Living Bible says, “If you do this, you will experience peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest, as you trust in Christ Jesus”

The moment we practice this, we will experience a peace that is far more precious than the human mind can understand. That is the same peace that Jesus had in the boat even in the midst of the storm. I challenge you today to let the peace of God guard your heart and your mind.

REV. JOSEPH OKPANACHI graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center Abuja, Nigeria and a member of Rhema Ministerial Association International (RMAI). He is currently the General Overseer of New Creation Word Centre, Abuja. He answered the call to full-time ministry in 1990 and has faithfully been at it for 26 years. Rev. Joe, as he is fondly called is happily married to Barr Celia and they have four children: Bishop, Anita, Jesse, Tehilla. They are based in Abuja, Nigeria