Teaching Children God’s Reason For Gratitude In Any Circumstance

Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 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 4:4-7

Every phrase in these verses is packed with truth from God. It is upside down compared to the way the world teaches us to deal with distress and anxiety. I have broken the phrases apart and added a few comments. Each of these phrases are conversation starters for the family!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice.     

Paul is writing this while in chains, and things are not exactly going his way.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone

…even when we are in the chains of our own circumstances

The Lord is at hand 

The God who created you and redeemed you is with you.

Do not be anxious about anything

I need to hear this all the time. 

But in everything

No circumstance—from the first day of kindergarten to a cancer diagnosis to shame and guilt—is too big or small to tell our Father about.

By prayer and supplication

Petition, groaning, crying out, using words (or not) 

With Thanksgiving

This phrase makes me stop in the middle of all the chaos that is in me and around me to think, What can I thank God for right now?

It teaches me that when I pray I am not rubbing a genie’s lamp or sending an email to my assistant to follow my directions.

But I am given the privilege Jesus gave his life for to approach God as my Father in prayer.

Approaching God with thanksgiving and at the same time with the tumult of feelings surrounding the very hard times in our lives shows us that thanksgiving to God is not dependent on our feelings or what we are going through. God sent his Son to our chaos caused by our sin to become sin for us. He has experienced rejection and temptation and living every moment for us and not himself. 

This is a good time between you and God to tell him what you are thankful to him for.

Let your requests be known to God.

Spread the things on your heart in front of him.

And receive what he has promised you.   

And the peace of God 

Not my peace I produce but his

Which surpasses all understanding

Will guard your hearts and your minds

From the chaos of fear and anxiety

In Christ Jesus. 

Pray the thoughts of these verses together as a family as you share what makes you anxious and what makes you thankful to God. Let him give you his peace that he has promised you.

A Daily Prayer:
Our hearts are in Christ Jesus. Our lives are in God’s hands. Our anxious requests are known by him. And we are thankful. Not because everything is going our way, but because we know that Jesus cared enough for us to die, and we can trust that he is able to do what is best for us and those around us.