Philippians 4:4-7 (NRSV)
Read Philippians 4:4-7 on biblegateway.com
Verse 4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Verse 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Verse 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Verse 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Devotion
Our thoughts frequently terrorize us. They magnify our fears and intensify our desires. Even when we recognize their deleterious effect on us, it is very hard to counter their deep grip on how we perceive and respond to life.
Paul gives us three practices for dealing with our thoughts. These are not commands, but exercises for enacting our trust and faith in God. The first is to embrace joy in the Lord always — not as a feeling but as an act of faith. The second is to let our gentleness (or kindness) be known to everyone — again not because we feel like it, but because we trust in the Lord's nearness. And the third is to turn our worries into prayers of thanksgiving and supplication.
When we trust God as we do these exercises, we enact the peace of God, which because it surpasses all our thoughts, is able to guard our hearts and minds in the Messiah Jesus.
Prayer
Dear God, give us power to exercise our faith — to live our life as a continual prayer — so that your peace, which far surpasses all our thoughts, might guard our hearts and minds in the Messiah Jesus. Right now. And throughout the day. Amen.