Thankful prayer and thinking on godly things with promises of protection from anxiety by the peace of God and the presence of the God of peace is a good practice.
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Jesus assures us, such troubles are never outside the control of the sovereign God, who is our loving Father. The antidote to anxiety is prayer, presenting to God our requests regarding every sort of concern while genuinely thanking him for his constant, generous provision.
Rehearsing God’s grace and expressing our confident dependence on him are means by which his peace—peace that finds no explanation in our circumstances—surrounds our fragile hearts and minds in divine protective custody. The God of peace also assures us of his presence as we focus our thoughts on virtues that reflect his beautiful holiness.
God’s common grace sustains a sense of what is true, good, and lovely even among those who do not know him. Ultimately, purity and peace are defined by the mind of Christ.
