Exposition

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Supplication is a request you make to God with an expectation that He will answer them. Once you have prayed about a thing as a believer, you can be at peace free from care knowing that your Heavenly Father is watching over you and would bring your answers soon. Yet how many times do you find yourself worrying, fretting and being anxious? The worries take over your fervency in prayer.

Fervent supplication increases your strength, doesn’t it? Have you ever been so passionate about something in prayer? Have you also ever been so worried or fretful that you found it difficult to concentrate or accomplish anything worthwhile or be productive? Worry will dwindle your faith and strength to pray but the joy is that fervent supplication will give you hope and strength.

Paul said that you should not worry about anything but just make your worries known to God through fervent supplication. We get so gripped by worry that it hinders us from being effective in prayer. Instead of standing fast in the Lord and being spiritually stable, when we are filled with worry, we become wavering, ineffective and unstable.

Notice the first part of verse 6, which says that “Be anxious for nothing”. Anxiety, according to Philippians 4:6, means “to be pulled in different directions.” Our hopes pull us in one direction; our fears pull us to the opposite direction; and we are pulled apart. In fact, worry has definite physical consequences such as headaches, neck pains, ulcers and even back pains but your fervent supplication this week will give you reasons to hope in the Lord.