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How to Experience More Peace and Less Anxiety
By: Amanda Idleman 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. - Philippians 4:6-7 Paul writes these words in Philippians at a time when he was locked in a Roman jail unsure if he was going to live or be killed. From the perspective of an outsider, he had every reason to be stressed and frustrated. Yet, somehow he writes saying there is no need to worry about anything. What a crazy thing to say? Shouldn't we at the very minimum be worried about staying alive? The Bible says, no. Not even death is something to fear! Anxiety is an epidemic in our country. We are rattled with stress, fear, and these color our other interactions we have with the people around us. Laughter is rare in our lives, work is never-ending, and peace is an elusive mystery. Pessimism permeates our conversations. Small issues become huge pains because our load already feels unbearably heavy. If our hearts and minds are filled with fear, how then can we experience peace and joy in our relationships? From the overflow of our hearts come the words of our mouths. If our hearts are paralyzed with anxiety then our words will be sprinkled with tension. How do we remove the diving bell sized weight of anxiety from our lives so we can experience more joy and peace in our marriage relationship? Paul gives us a simple answer in Philippians; he says pray about everything. Does God really want to hear about it all or does He tire of all our petty issues and requests? Thankfully, the answer is no, God never gets tired of hearing what's on your mind. He cares about all the details and no concern is too small to bring to His attention. | 
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