Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6–7 (NIV)
In the text in Philippians above, Paul told his readers not to worry about anything. However, the past few years have been a time of unprecedented stress and crisis. Looming over everything, over the wars and economic turmoil, has been the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the World Health Organization issued a brief stating that “in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%.”[1] On top of impacting people’s health and ability to work, a major cause of this increase was the social isolation we all had to suffer. Recent studies show that the pandemic is still negatively impacting our lives and mental health in unexpected ways.[2]
When times are tough, we need to give and receive support from our friends and family. The text in Philippians goes on to say, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
In the 2023 Global Church Member Survey, 64.2% of church members said that they prayed at least once a day. About 16.4% prayed more than once a week; and 11.4%, between once a week and once a month. Sadly, 8.1% of members prayed less than once a month or never.
This prayer doesn’t include praying at mealtimes when we ask God for His blessing on what we are about to eat. What is covered by the prayers in this survey are prayers of conversation when we respond to His messages to us in His Scriptures and when we unburden or surrender our hearts to Him.
God will always be there when we need to talk. He’s never too busy to listen to our fears, our anxiety, our anger, our sadness. No problem is too small or too to interest Him. He not only listens, but He responds by quieting our anxiety and fears. Philippians ends: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
In Steps to Christ, Ellen White summed it up beautifully when she said,
Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. …Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. (Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, 100)
You can access the full report here.
Created in collaboration with the Institute of Church Ministry.
Published by ASTR on 06/19/2024.
[1] World Health Organization. 02/03/2022. https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide
[2] Baylor University. 2/2/2024. https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2024/days-blur-together-study-shows-how-covid-19-pandemic-affected-perceptions-time-and