More than 100 years ago, George Muller, one of the greatest Christian gentleman-servants in all of church history, presented a short Bible lesson from Philippians 4:6-7 on the subject of worry-or how to overcome worry, to be exact. I happened upon a written copy of the lesson many years ago, read through it, then threw it away, thinking I'd remember my favorite parts of it for the rest of my days.
The trouble was, however, that the significance of what Muller said in that little leaflet didn't dawn on me all at once. Little by little I began to appreciate what he had said. His points were becoming, without exaggeration, life-transforming to me. I wanted to read his Bible lesson again, more carefully this time, but I couldn't find another copy of it. I looked for it for years, but I just couldn't find it.
Finally, a few months ago, I found Muller's little Bible study again on the Internet. It was entitled "Freedom from Anxiety," and it was as simple and profound as I remembered. In a culture overridden with anxiety and stress, his thesis is of monumental importance.
"The children of God," George Muller says, "are commanded, to bring all their cares to their heavenly Father....And because they are permitted, yes, commanded so to do, they have no need to be anxious about anything. We are not to be anxious because it is impossible to be anxious without dishonoring God."
Of course, it's one thing to know that we shouldn't be worried and nervous, but we need no one to convince us of this. The command of Philippians 4:6 is one that all of us already wish we could obey, but "how" do we stop worrying?
MANY PRAYERS ("IN EVERYTHING") WITH A SWEET SPIRIT OF RESIGNATION ("WITH THANKSGIVING")Part 1Muller continues with part one of what to do to ward off worry-pray instead...often, and about everything. "But while the commandment is not to be anxious about anything, at the same time, we are exhorted to bring everything before God. When a Christian attempts to carry the little burdens in his own strength, I know he will soon dishonor God. We have not a particle of strength to carry any burdens, little or great. Therefore we must bring them all to God. And if we attempt to carry them we shall find that they will increase in weight."
The kind of prayer George Muller is recommending is the sort that cheerfully and thankfully places one's hardship entirely in the hands of God and leaves the disposal of the entire matter to God's own preferences. As children of God, we must learn not to pray "against "God and what He is doing in our lives. Rebellious prayer is bound to be both exhausting and fruitless. Prayers of resignation, though, are not to be confused with prayer"less" resignation.
"We must sometimes act just like beggars," Muller suggests. "They ask for alms...they go after you, perhaps twenty steps and sometimes even a hundred yards or more. They follow you still asking until they obtain the alms they desire."Part 2Muller then turns our attention to part two of what we must do in order to ward off anxiety and worry. "Again we especially have to notice that prayer is to be coupled with thanksgiving. We are frequently very remiss in this. We forget to render praise for the mercies already received from our heavenly Father. This should not be so."
"If we do offer thanksgiving," but "only" if we do, Mr. Muller points out, "our hearts are at peace instead of hurrying hither and thither as men beside themselves. Instead of great excitement...we shall have the peace which passeth all understanding. The peaceful calm which is so precious and which no words can describe shall be in our hearts."
According to this text, the person who does not offer thanks to God in anxious times disqualifies himself from God's "peace that passes understanding." Any prayer that isn't offered in a spirit of gratitude is a profoundly flawed prayer. That doesn't mean it can't be answered, but it's a little like planting a profoundly flawed seed--uncomfortably risky. Then, too, if our inward thought is that God is too mistaken or too cruel to deserve true thanks, then great thoughts of an even greater God will never arise in our souls to counteract and drive out our nervous doubts and anxious worries.
SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?We Christians are invited, even commanded, to refrain from nervousness, worries, and anxieties. We all really wish to obey that command, and we actually can if only we attack our worries with prayers of resignation and thanksgiving-resignation to whatever protection and help God chooses to give us, and constant thanksgiving to a God who is too wise to ever make a mistake and too good to ever be cruel to us.
Finally, when it comes to that "peace of God that...shall keep your hearts," Muller reminds us that the "word 'keep' means that our hearts shall be kept by the peace of God, as a garrison of soldiers keeps a fortress." In other words, when what we fear most in life begins to threaten us for the one-thousandth time, our prayers of resignation and thanks will summon the peace of God to stand guard mightily over our souls.
