july10.

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done."

Philippians 4:6

i've always excited wif paul's writing style.
the short lines, simple words,
but tossed in a profound truth,
that only can be construed correctly in context.

in our times, i've heard so many times,
pple say, "don't worry la, just pray."
and so many times that the phrase found itself
in the 'top 10 most cliche things christians say'.

but why is it that when paul says dis,
we won't find it cliche.
for me, it is cliche when pple scrape the general
wif insufficient substance and depth to delve into.

let's take the above as an example.
it is cliche when you share stuff wif your friend,
and he says, "don't worry la. pray lor.."
almost immediately, i'd know its pointless sharing wif him.

coz he knows the ten-year series answers,
but lacks the communication and sincerity to encourage.
its amazing how similar words can mean different things
when the body language speaks otherwise..

when the person said "don't worry la, pray lor.."
more likely than not,
he doesn't even know what to pray for if he were you,
but he knows that prayer's a must.

there's no way he could tell you specifically what to pray for,
and how to go abt praying..
out of convenience, he shoves the tys ans to you,
in hope to move on and talk abt other light-hearted stuffs.

but what is different abt paul's 'advice'?
he was specific.
he knew what the philippians were struggling against,
even though he was away from them, he could discern.

he brilliantly used 2 words of opposite poles to sum it up.
don't worry abt anything,
but pray abt everything.
even if you don't know specifically, just pray abt everything.

and he knows full well,
that when we're worried or troubled.
we won't need to be prompted in what to pray for,
it naturally surfaces to the frontal of our brain!

that is also one reason why we struggle so hard,
to give thanks first in our prayers when we're worried.
coz the most pressing item is not thanksgiving,
but our immediate worry..

and then paul further reiterates on the practicality of prayer.
he goes on to saying how or what we should pray in worry.
tell God what you need,
and thank Him for all He has done.

see? such great understanding he encompasses.
he nvr discounts the fact that a worried man has needs,
but he reminded us,
to give thanks at the end of it too!

so i wanna urge you, friends.
should anybody shares their struggles wif you.
time to shelf the tys ans.
understand where they're coming from!

even if you don't know what to say,
or nothing substantive to 'support'.
the last thing you can/should do,
is to tell them the general heartless advices..