GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF ALL YOUR BURDENS

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. — Philippians 4:6 NRSV

In 1991 I spent some time with Ruth Graham in her lovely mountain home in North Carolina. On that evening, I asked Ruth how she handled the tough days as a young wife and mother. How did she respond when she was, at times, pushed into an unsolicited spotlight? Her answer was simple yet profound.

“Worship and worry cannot exist at the same time in the same heart,” she said. “They are mutually exclusive.”

Ruth then told me about a time when she awoke in the middle of the night, concerned about one of her children. Unable to sleep, she got out of bed and picked up her Bible. Ruth soon realized that the missing ingredient in her heart at that time was thanksgiving, so she began to thank God for this son, for his life, for the joy he had brought to their home. Her burden lifted.

We can pray and make our requests known to God, but we have to trust that God will answer our prayers. Thanksgiving helps us do that. When we pray with thanksgiving, we are saying we believe he will answer us and provide for our needs or for the needs of those we love—and we will be happy with his provision.

— Sheila Walsh