Philippians 4:6-7 6Do not be anxious, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The exhortations at the close of the letter continue. The opening exhortation in verse 6 is simply stated with a generic “nothing” as the object of the verb. There were likely many pressures and troubles that caused the Philippians anxiety, so Paul leaves out any specific thing about which to worry. Anxiety is a form of concern and worry. There are two types of concerns. A healthy type of concern looks at a situation and determines what can be changed about it. It leads to taking steps to resolve a situation and keeps us from laziness. An unhealthy concern stresses over things we cannot change. We try to face the suffering, challenges, pain, sorrow, and decisions with our own strength. It can be difficult to determine the difference between these two types of concern. The healthy concern can become unhealthy if we try to carry the load ourselves.
Paul gives the answer to anxiety as prayer. He counters the “nothing” in the first clause with “everything” in the second clause. He uses four different words for prayer. Prayer (proseuchē ) is the general and inclusive word used throughout the New Testament for speaking to God and can include other types of prayer. Petition (deēsei) prayer brings specific needs to God. It is a form of intercessory prayer made in behalf of another person for specific needs. Thanksgiving (eucharistias) is a prayer of gratitude to God. It is the attitude to have in prayer. Prayer is not only asking God for help but giving praise for all God does. A thankful heart sees the challenges not as problems but as opportunities for God’s grace and power to work. Thanksgiving frees us from anxiety because we see God at work in spite of suffering. It gives us confidence to face the future. Requests (aitēmata) are similar to petitions and express specific needs. The form of word here is a noun showing these are the things about which we pray. Worry creeps into our lives when we take our eyes off of God and do not pray. How do we overcome anxiety? Trust God. How do we trust God? Through prayer. Prayer is a choice. God invites us to cast our cares on him (1 Peter 5:7).
Verse 7 expresses the outcome and consequence of prayer as the peace of God. This is similar to Colossians 3:15, which is expressed as a command, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” God is the source of peace and grants peace to his family through the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13; Galatians 5:22). God’s gift of peace (eirēnē) in the Bible brings wholeness, joy, healthy relationships, and well-being. The peace that comes from God surpasses all understanding. It cannot be understood but must be experienced. It can be studied but understanding only comes with experience. Jesus is the one through whom we experience this peace (Romans 5:1).
God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds by keeping them safe from the bombardment of worry. The future tense of the verb guard (phrourēsei) gives assurance and promise that God can and will provide what is promised in Scripture. This is a military term for soldiers who guard in defense against enemies. A strong guard ensures the peace of a situation. God’s peace guards hearts and minds, which refer to our inner being where the anxiety comes. Minds (noēmata) literally means thinking or thoughts. Worry can be replaced with peace. We may not be able to solve all the problems or relieve all our stresses, but we can have a peace to face these with hope and assurance. The source of this guard is our relationship with Jesus Christ, expressed with the phrase in Christ Jesus.
Peace does not mean the problem goes away but that we have a resource to help us face our problems without carrying the load of worry on our own. These verses are an invitation for the Philippians to seek God’s help through Jesus Christ for their difficult situations. Paul offers his own testimony of peace in this letter. Not even prison could keep him from putting his hope in Christ.
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