“ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6,7 NIV
According to a recent article published by Runners World Magazine, practicing gratitude has long-term health benefits including improved running performance, better sleep, a reduction in blood pressure, lower levels of inflammation, and faster healing from injuries. And while writing one thank you note won’t immediately lower your cholesterol or give you more endurance said Glenn Fox, Ph.D., who is the head of program design, strategy, and outreach at the University of Southern California’s Performance Science Institute and has done extensive research on how gratitude impacts human performance, counting your blessings and being thankful for them on a daily basis will pay off in the long run.
And you know, practicing gratitude can do more than just impact our running performance. It can give us complete peace in the midst of any situation. Paul, who had trained himself to make thankfulness his normal response to every situation certainly understood this and so urged the church at Philippi to avoid being anxious or worried about anything but to present their requests to God “with thanksgiving” instead. Doing so, he explained would allow them to experience the supernatural “peace of God.” You see, when you and I pray with an attitude of gratitude, we are choosing to trust that God will work out “every situation” for our good and so can have the tranquility that “transcends all understanding.”
So may we train ourselves to make it our custom, habit and normal response to be thankful when presenting “our requests to God” my friend - that we might experience the perfect peace that only He can give.
Heavenly Father, help us to train ourselves to be thankful in all situations, both good and bad, by reading your Word daily that we might know and understand your promises and who You are that we would learn to trust You to always do what’s good for us. It’s in Your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
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