Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Paul uses the same expression, meµden merimnate, for “don’t worry about anything” as Jesus used when he spoke in Matthew 6:25 saying, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” There should be care and diligence in our service as Christians, but distrust and worries are only perpetuations of our sin. It is not until we turn our problems over to God that we experience true peace. He is able to guard our hearts and minds as we follow the example Christ set for us.

Worry is the thief that steals the joy from our lives. Worry can take a small problem and magnify a mole hill into a mountain. It causes us to loose sight of the important issues in life. In Matthew 6 Jesus said we worry about so many things we miss out on life. If you start worrying about how well you are dressed for a party you miss the fun of the party. If you worry about all the details of a trip, the trip becomes a burden instead of a delight. Our thoughts become skewed and they begin to consume us. We loose sight of who we belong to and what He is capable of. Jesus told us how God cares for the birds and the flowers of the field. Our worry tells God we believe we are less important than those. And what do we gain by worry? It is wasted effort that cannot add a single moment to our life, but instead takes away from our life. It paralyzes us, hinders us and keeps us from moving forward. Because of our human nature we talk internally to ourselves until the problems overrun our mind. Here is where we should stop and talk to the one who can take care of our problems and needs. It is here we need to pray to God and tell Him our concerns. We must ask God for help and we must do so with thanksgiving realizing God gives us what we need and not what we want. God gives us a promise at the end of verse 7, “His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Have you turned your worries over to God? Maybe it’s time to stop and pray.