What to Do With the Craving

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition 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 thoughts in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, WEB)

Paul tells the Philippians not to be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, to let their requests be made known to God, and he promises that the peace of God will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. He is not offering a slogan but a practice, a specific thing to do with the churn inside you when it rises.

Temptation often rides in on anxiety. A hard day, a lonely evening, a restlessness you cannot name, and the old craving offers itself as relief, promising to quiet the very thing that is making you ache. Paul points to a better place to take that inner churning. He says to bring it to God in the moment, plainly, as a request rather than a performance, without dressing it up or waiting until you feel more presentable. Notice that he expects this to become a guard around the heart and mind, which is precisely the territory a struggling man most needs protected when the pull is strong and his own defenses feel thin.

The next time the craving rises, before you do anything else, turn it into words and hand it to God. Tell him you are anxious, tell him what you want to do and that you do not want to want it, and ask for the peace he promised. Say it even if it feels clumsy, even if the wanting is loud while you pray. The urge may not vanish at once, and Paul does not promise that it will. What he promises is a peace that stands guard, so that even before the feeling passes you have moved the battle onto ground where God has committed himself to stand watch with you. That is a far better place to fight from than alone.