The Bible commands us not to be anxious about anything. Have you ever been anxious? Anxiety is that unpleasant feeling in anticipation of what may or may not happen and it produces nervous and even irrational behaviors. Let me ask you another question, what causes you to be anxious? Some people have financial anxieties, some have relationship anxieties, others are anxious about their health. Some of our anxieties are the result of our own bad decisions. Then there are the anxieties that come from things we have nothing to do with like wars, crime, the weather and on and on. There are so many things to be anxious about and yet God commands us not to anxious about anything.

Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

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.

In our anxieties there is always a hidden fear. In the phrase, “let your requests be made known to God”, the word “known” means to uncover or reveal. The implication is that there is something that’s hidden in our requests that needs to be made known to God. Not because God does not know what’s hidden in our requests but because many times we don’t realize that in our request there are hidden fears that lead to our anxieties. For example let’s say that you pray for God to heal you of a disease, what’s hidden in that request is the fear of death. Or let’s say that the company you’re working for is about to lay-off some workers and you pray to God that you would not be one of those losing their job. Hidden in that request there’s the fear of not being able to pay your bills, maybe the fear of losing your house. Every request has a root cause that God wants us to discover, because our anxieties are the result of the fears that hide in our requests to God.

When we discover the fear that fuels our petitions and we uncover them before God, the promise is that the peace that surpasses our knowledge will guard us both emotionally and intellectually. It’s simple, in our requests there are hidden fears of what may or may not happen and these fears are what makes us anxious. What causes you the most anxiety? What do you fear will happen if it continues?

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Heavenly Father, I want to experience your peace. Help me to uncover my petitions and get to the root of whatever makes me anxious. And I trust that you are bigger and greater than anything that I might possibly be afraid of.