"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding ,shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry. both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Notice in verse six, Paul gives three clear instructions for finding lasting happiness and contentment. He says:

1) do not worry about anything

2) pray about everything

3) thank God for everything

What if today we took this instruction to heart and put it into practice? What if today we decided not to worry about anything? What if when we found ourselves worrying, we stopped and handed the situation over to God in prayer? What if we then thanked Him for taking care of the issue? In fact, what if we spent most of our mental free time today thinking about what good care our awesome God takes of us? What would happen then?

Paul says in verse seven, if we begin to live this way we will experience amazing peace a kind of peace we can't even imagine. Peace that makes no earthly sense. This kind of peace is so powerful that it has a protective function on our hearts and minds which only makes it easier for us to stop worrying and be thankful. That sounds like a state of happiness to me!

Further down in Philippians 4:10-13, Paul goes on to attest personally to the truth of this 3-step process as he writes from a Roman prison. From behind bars Paul says, "I've learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little ... I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little" (Phil. 4:11-12). Did you catch that verb? Paul LEARNED how to be happy and content. It didn't just happen once he reached his goals. In fact, he claims his ability to be happy had nothing at all to do with his circumstances, but rather his increased trust in Christ.

So happy contentedness is not something that comes once our waistlines have slimmed, our wrinkles are erased, our houses are organized, our children are successful, our bosses have thanked us, or our husbands dote on us. Instead it is learned as we become prayerful (verse 6) and thankful (verse 6), as we practice spiritual thinking (verse 8), and as we trust totally in Christ (verse 13) despite our circumstances.

I can't think of a better day to start practicing Paul's process of prayer, thankfulness, and "spiritual thinking" than today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Lord, I'm turning over all my fears and problems to You to handle today. I can't fix a single thing by worrying about it - but you can fix anything because nothing is impossible for You! Thank You for my blessings, big and small. Thank You for Your loving care for me. Thank You for being in charge of my day. In Jesus' Name, Amen.