Petition, Thanksgiving and Worry

An ability God’s given us is the capacity to envision the future. Some may be better than others. Some can look farther ahead. But we can all picture what days ahead might be like. Maybe some here have plans for Thanksgiving and imagine a great meal with loved ones or maybe the youngest of us are considering what to wear for Halloween and imagine enjoying the treats collected that day. Some are maybe looking a little farther ahead, already picking out Christmas gifts for loved ones. Hopefully most have long term plans for themselves, their lives and loved ones. When guided by hope, we envision how tomorrow will be better than today, we anticipate an exciting future. When a student allows hope to shape their future, schoolwork is a joy instead of toil. When vision for marriage is shaped by hope, making sacrifices for family becomes easy. When hope guides an entrepreneur’s imagination, businesses that support community are established. That’s the power of hope: it gives confidence in a joyful future and encourages us to build and share in God’s work; it’s why hope is considered a virtue. A great hindrance to hope is worry and by worry we don’t mean the kind of paralyzing anxiety that requires serious attention. No, we mean the kind of worry that holds us back from take the risks needed to build a better future; it’s what discourages a young man from asking the girl out or a student from going for the career they want. When worry clouds hope, disciples are dissuaded from doing the work needed to create opportunities that support families and build communities. Worry is a vice that hinders imagination and stunts growth. Worry is often developed through habits that give undue attention to what appears to be dangerous and it’s an easy trap to fall into. Knowing this, twenty-four hour news channels don’t offer hour after hour of happy news; they capture attention by highlighting all the things there are to worry about. God knows how worry impacts his people and wants us instead to develop habits that inspire hope. In today’s second reading, Saint Paul encourages Christians, “Do not worry about anything…”[i]. Now, he wrote those words not while on vacation or from a place of comfort, but while in prison for being a follower of Jesus, while facing possible execution. The apostle knows, better than anyone, how God doesn’t promise a trouble-free life for his followers. Indeed, Jesus tells us to expect trouble. But the Saviour also promises to have the last say over all things and demonstrated his power by rising from the dead. This is the promise Saint Paul trusts in and it guides the advice he offers to Christians threatened by worry. His words continue: “…by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”[ii] Saint Paul urges Christians to respond to worry with supplication and thanksgiving, to use worry as a prompt to prayer. Of course, Saint Paul knows prayer doesn’t eliminate troubles; he knows getting out of prison isn’t a matter of praying enough and he knows there’s no amount of prayer that will make food free or change the minds of emperors or presidents. Prayer is about changing us more so than changing circumstances. So, he gives a couple more directions. Saint Paul directs us to pray with ‘supplication’. Another word for ‘supplication’ is ‘petition’; worry is a prompt to offer prayers of petition. This works because when the worries of life pretend to be insurmountable dangers, demanding our full attention, prayers of petition direct our hearts instead to the one who truly is the most powerful, the one who also happens to be the most loving. When evil pretends to be the strongest power, prayers of petition remind our hearts that no evil is greater than God. Saint Paul also instructs disciples to offer prayers of thanksgiving. Prayer that conquers worry must also honour God’s greatness, what he’s done for each of us. When evil threatens, giving thanks to God is a reminder of how he’s long been at work demonstrating his love and power. Again, this doesn’t change circumstances but changes hearts with reminders of exactly how God is so great and loving; if he’s brought us this far in life, we have every reason to thanks him, trusting he’ll continue to be there. Saint Paul is a great model for us whenever worry appears. He lived through stonings, shipwrecks, exile, imprisonment and eventual martyrdom: incredible hardships giving every reason to worry. Yet, instead of worry, Saint Paul expressed peace, confident in God’s power and love. Following his example, disciples don’t succumb to worry but recognize it as opportunity to offer prayers of petition and thanksgiving; we invite God to transform worry into the peace Saint Paul enjoyed. This is how habits that prompt worry become habits that inspire peace. Maybe this week, when you find yourself filled with worry, pause for a moment to prayerfully acknowledge how God is greater than any evil by bringing worries to him and by thanking him for his goodness. “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart…”[iii], Saint Paul reminds us. When the world says peace comes from circumstances, disciples proclaim that turning worries over to God, inviting him into that darkness, offers, in return, peace that surpasses understanding. Guided by that promise, Saint Paul became a partner with God in building a church that continues to offer God’s peace. By exchanging our own worry for peace, we, too, hope to become partners with God. God of peace, when evils attempt to distract your people and fill hearts with worry, we ask you to send your Spirit to remind us of your love, your goodness and your power over all. May the example and intercession of Saint Paul guide us to place our trust in you, to place our worries before you through prayers of petition and thanksgiving. We offer all our prayers through the […]