“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God — merimnao (be anxious) is forbidden; anxiety is the opposite of faith. 'Prayer and petition' (proseuche kai deēsis) encompasses intercession and supplication. 'With thanksgiving' (meta eucharistias) transforms petition: gratitude precedes the answer. 'Present your requests to God' (aphasizō) is disclosure, not demand. The formula: anxiety → prayer → thanksgiving = peace.
Church Fathers on Philippians 4:6
“Blessed are they that mourn,” and “woe unto them that laugh” Matthew 5:4; Luke 6:25, says Christ. How then says Paul, “Rejoice in the Lord always”? “Woe to them that laugh,” said Christ, the laughter of this world which arises from the things which are present. He blessed also those that mourn, not simply for the loss of relatives, but those who are pricked at heart, who mourn their own faults, and take count of their own sins, or even those of others. This joy is not…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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