Philippians 4:6, 7  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. (NLT)

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Prayer is a good habit. If you have not developed the habit of prayer, this would be a good routine to create. There are people who are well-seasoned in prayer. There is an abundance of books and workbooks on prayer. It’s easy to begin feeling overwhelmed with all of the prayer clutter available to us with a quick internet or Amazon search.

Please allow a word of caution: Don’t make prayer harder than it has to be.

These two verses show us how to pray simply and effectively. The first thing it says is to turn worries into prayers. Instead of sitting and stewing about something, pray instead.

Next, it says to pray about everything. All of the great ideas you have make good prayer fodder. Take your dreams to God. He will help you discard the fantasies and develop the dreams.

Following this, we are told to tell God what we need. He knows. You know. And when you agree, the Giver of All Good Things provides what you need. It’s important, of course, to discern the difference between what we want and what we need. It’s important to learn to want for ourselves what God wants for us. Eating dessert first sounds like fun until we realize what this costs us in the long run.

“Thank him for all he has done,” it says. The evil one likes to make us think God is holding out on us. He likes other people more than he likes us. Envy builds barriers. Gratitude builds bridges. Every good and perfect gift we have or have enjoyed or will enjoy is a token of God’s love and grace. Gratitude reshapes our thinking and enlarges our delight.

Turning worries into prayers, living the life of God’s dreams for you, and practicing regular gratitude produces peaceful living. Leaning into these aspects of prayer produces the kind of peace we deeply desire but could not otherwise imagine. This peace guards our hearts and minds against unnecessary worry and fear.

Simple prayers serve us well. We do not try to impress God, manipulate God, or think we are God. We simply stay in step with God throughout each moment and day in our work and our play.

Today is a good day to learn how to pray. This is a gift we give ourselves. Later, when we learn how to pray for others, we discover how to extend this gift.

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I will learn to pray simply and gratefully.

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Our Father, teach me to pray. Deliver me from worry and fear as I bring everything to you for your perspective, provision, and direction. Thank you for every good and perfect gift you have brought into my life. Thank you for peace with you, peace in my heart, and peace with others. Teach me how to pray about those areas requiring your presence and peace. Grow in me a habit of prayer. Amen.