Making the Request Known

I've been thinking a lot about anxiety and fear lately and how Satan uses it to disarm and cripple us until we wallow around in a sea of self pity and uselessness.  I think some are affected by fear more than others.  I don't know if it is passed down through the genealogical line or what ...well, personally I believe it is.  It is time to take back some ground! 

I remember my Nana telling me things like, "Now when Eric is out of town, you should disarm your garage door because people can still get in that way if they want to."  That is just what a new bride needed to hear.  I wrestled with fear forever while Eric traveled.  I could hardly even wash my face at night because that meant I had to close my eyes and I knew Anthony Hopkins from Silence of the Lambs was ready to pounce on me and eat me whole.  I finally got freedom by pasting scripture around and memorizing something to say while washing my face.  The word became my only sword of defense.

I also remember other things said from her that did nothing to make me run towards faith but instead sprint towards the finish line of fear.  That is why I think fear is passed down...when we hear it as impressionable children, then we assume it is the correct way to think and live.  We become consumed with it, but we do have ta choice to let it go and live a life of faith.

{I know it sounds like I am bashing my Nana.  She is a very Godly woman and loves Jesus and pointed us to God's word...maybe she'll forgive me...ha!}

Apparently, gaining freedom from fear in one area of life doesn't mean it is going to bleed over into all areas.  I have been thinking a lot about what leads me into a pit of anxiety and I think some of it is that I am afraid to voice my true desires; fearful they may not line up with God's plan. 

Let's be clear on this:  We are to make our requests known to God.

He hammers it into us in Philippians 4:6-7.  "Do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus."

Maybe the key to NO anxiety is to simply make the requests known.  Write them down and then leave them at  the throne.  If He is good, and He tells us we can count on it, then what better place are our desires than at the foot of the One who bled and died for us?

The King James Version says to be careful for nothing.  "Nothing" in Greek is "medeis" which means "not even one."  I am commanded to not be anxious over even one thing.  I know that is stating the obvious, but I can't even remember the last time I was only anxious about one thing, much less nothing.

Try a little experiment.  Write the requests down.  Leave them with Jesus.  Sit back and see if peace, a peace that defies any explanation, fills you up.