Just reminding myself, again today, that I am not to be anxious about anything. One, Scripture says in Philippians 4:5 that the Lord is near.That should be enough to keep me from brewing with worry. Two, as the passage goes on to say, we have the privilege of presenting our worries/anxieties to Him through prayer and petition. These are two distinct words in the original Greek: Prayer - "To offer prayer." Petition - "To pray, beg, implore. Supplication, request, prayer for particular benefits." We not only have this opportunity to offer prayer, we are told to implore God. To beg God for a particular benefit. And so I will. "I will not be ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard that which I, "implore and beg" Him for" (2 Timothy 1:12 RRV (Robin's Revised Version)).

I do like word play and so whenever I read this passage, I picture my "presenting" as a present, a gift. The Word says we are to "present our requests to God." Or... give Him a present? I know, a stretch at best but this word "present" in the original Greek has the meaning with it as to reveal. So do I dare say we can take our requests, put them in a box, wrap them up and hand them over to God as a present. "Present your requests to God?" Gift them to Him? Once the box is opened, all is revealed. Now He has it. And like I said above, He is able to guard that which I "present" to Him. (RRV again).

I want to be strong in my faith. If I am going to wrap up my imploring, begging, particular needs and present them to God, I want to believe He will answer me. No doubt, I want the peace that transcends all understanding promised as well, but, I want to go beyond that. I want to believe that God is the one who performs miracles (Psalm 77:14). He is the one we can cry out to and say, " Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer. Answer me, for I need your help" (Psalm 86:1). The One who allows me to cry out to Him in my anguish and He answers by setting me free (Psalm 118:5). The One who says, "Nothing is too hard for me (Jeremiah 32:17). Nothing.

Following hard after God today.