In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul instructs the believer in combating anxiety through prayer with thanksgiving. At the time of his writing, he had extensive experience dealing with stressful situations as he was sitting in a Roman prison having previously been jailed, shipwrecked and even had his life threatened.

In these moments, Paul says to pray with thanksgiving.

Praying is not typically a difficult concept to grasp. In times of trouble or potential trouble, we're quick to not only increase the levels of our prayer life, but request that friends and other believers do the same.

The reason is that in those times we're most reminded of our need for God. Satan knows this as well so he often bombards us with anxious thoughts that can increase to an unreasonable level and destabilize our entire world.  

There is a word for this activity: it is called catastrophizing.  It's when your child gets a poor grade on a spelling test, and you just somehow know this must mean they'll never read or graduate high school and will eventually end up in federal prison. You went from needing them to study more to, "I hope you look good in an orange jumpsuit" in a flash. That's catastrophizing. It's believing the worst possible outcome is going to happen.

Paul would say that's not of God, and to pray with thanksgiving. In the holy inspiration of these words, God wants you to know he didn’t design your brain so anxiety and thankfulness could occupy the same space – it's physically impossible.  

So, in those dark moments when you're tempted to let anxiety overcome your thoughts, pray with thanksgiving. What happens when we do that?  

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7 (ESV)

Written by David Ummel, executive director for Buckner Westminster Place in Longview, Texas.