Winter Fire – Prince of Peace - Thursday
Today’s Verse
Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. 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. (NLT)
Some of my clearest memories growing up come from my grandmother’s house. I remember the dread I’d feel when I saw my dad’s car pulling up to the driveway of her house. I’d go hide behind the couch because I didn't want to leave just yet! I also remember that every Sunday morning I was at her house, she would wake me up, hand me a cup of hot chocolate, and tell me to get dressed so that we could go to Mass early and pray through the rosary.
If you’re not familiar with what a rosary is, it is a string of 59 beads shaped sort of like a necklace. The purpose of a rosary is to help guide a number of different prayers that reflect on the life of Jesus. You’d move from one bead to the next and pray a certain prayer depending on which bead you are on. This was my first experience of prayer. It was the same prayers over and over again, and I honestly thought that was the only way to pray. Yet, this is not the only way to pray.
When you pray, it doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to say the “right words” in the “right way.” When you pray, you can be honest with God about what you’re worried about. Tell Him how you’re struggling to find joy this Christmas season. Tell Him about the tension you feel in your marriage. Tell Him about the hopelessness you feel stuck in when it comes to your career. Tell God how angry and sad you are about that diagnosis you just received. Be real with God about where you are and what you’re feeling.
In the verse just prior to Philippians 4:6, Paul says that the Lord is near. I’m not going to promise that all of your anxiety will melt away when you pray, but I can promise that our Prince of Peace will meet you where you’re at and He won't ever leave you. When we bring our anxieties to our Prince of Peace, we are entrusting that He is the one who can take on the weight we’ve been carrying by ourselves for so long. It takes the pressure off of us as we hand it over to Him, trusting that He will do the heavy work that we can’t do on our own. Jesus himself tells us that we will experience trouble in this world but He also promises us that He has already overcome the world and because of that we can have peace (John 16:33). The Prince of Peace promises that we will experience peace in this life because He is with us. When we come to the Prince of Peace in the quiet place of prayer, we experience His presence and His peace that He promises.
REFLECTION
There is a method of prayer called “Breath Prayers.” Simply put, a breath prayer is a short, one-sentence prayer that you pray in between breaths. You breathe in, pray the short prayer, breathe out, pray the short prayer again. You repeat this process for however long feels right.
A breath prayer that I use often is simply “Peace, be still.” As someone who can become anxious quite quickly and has struggled with panic attacks, this is a method of prayer I use whenever I begin to feel anxious.
Take some time to practice the “Breath Prayer” method and focus on how Jesus meets us in our anxiety.