Finding Peace in Christ: Praying with Open Hands

Peace isn't the absence of stressors. It's the presence of Christ in the midst of demands that exceed our resources. I'll say it again. Peace, as the Bible defines it, is the presence of Christ in the midst of demands that exceed our resources. So, really, there's two prominent words for peace in scripture. In the Old Testament, in Hebrew, the word shalom, and in the New Testament, in Greek, the word erenae. And these these words neither means the absence of conflict or the the absence of stress, but they they mean they're positive words. It means wholeness, completeness, fullness, flourishing, everything in its right place working as it should. [00:42:59] (41 seconds)  #peaceIsChrist

Paul Miller, in his great book, a praying life, he says anxiety is prayer unhitched from God. That's all it is. It's just what we're supposed to open up and give to Lord when we keep it stuffed in, it just creates anxiety in us. Anxiety is just prayer unhooked from God. God gives you responsibilities. He never gives you anxiety. Think of it like an engine. An engine without oil seizes up. Right? The harder it works without oil, the more it locks down. Anxiety is the clenched fist trying to force life to work, and gratitude is the oil that let things run the way that they're designed to. [00:59:14] (35 seconds)  #anxietyIsPrayerUnhitched

This is what God is teaching us. Stop demanding. We're just stop demanding train tickets for trains that we haven't yet boarded. Tomorrow, when tomorrow comes, he's gonna give tomorrow's grace. When cancer comes, if it comes, he will give grace there. When a job loss happens, if it happens, the provision will be there. When the difficult conversation arrives, if it arrives, he will give you the words. God doesn't hand out grace for imaginary future scenarios. He gives today's grace for today's burdens and tomorrow's grace when tomorrow arrives. [00:54:16] (39 seconds)  #trustTodaysGrace

Do you see what's happening? When you open your clenched fist and you bring your your concerns to God in prayer with thanksgiving, and when you receive the peace of God that guards your heart and mind, then you are finally free to think clearly, to fix your mind on true things and beautiful things and peaceful things and lovely things, to not to run to worst case scenarios, all the worst case scenarios that your anxiety manufacturing. Right? We know this anxious mind, it spirals and it catastrophizes and it rehearses the same fears over and over, but the peaceful mind guarded by God can see what's actually true and what's actually lovely and what's actually worthy of attention. [01:00:11] (41 seconds)  #openHandReceivePeace

Friends, this is what the cross does for you. Your soul is in kidney failure. You are being poisoned by sin from the inside and it's killing you. You cannot cleanse yourself. You cannot purify your own heart. You cannot detoxify your own soul. You cannot generate peace from within your own polluted system. And God does not give you spiritual self help. [01:03:14] (23 seconds)  #crossCleansesSoul

Your cleansing is complete. It's not partial. It's not in progress. It's complete. This is how you have peace with God, not because you managed to clean yourself up, not because you've gotten your act together, not because your anxiety levels are under control, but because Jesus did for you what you cannot do for yourself. He reconciled you to God through his blood shed on the cross. [01:04:38] (21 seconds)  #cleansingCompleteInChrist

You cannot have peace within without first having peace with God. Because if God is still your enemy, if your sin is still unforgiven, then no amount of prayer techniques or mindfulness exercises or anxiety management strategies are gonna give you lasting peace. You're just gonna be managing symptoms while the disease kills you. [01:05:42] (20 seconds)  #peaceWithGodFirst

Confession restores peace. First John one nine promises this. It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So if you're not experiencing peace, let me ask you, is there something that you've been hiding? Is there something that you've rationalized, something that you think that you can manage on your own? [00:50:11] (24 seconds)  #confessionBringsPeace