How to Make an Effective Prayer Strategy Template from Philippians 4

It was the beginning of the Pandemic lockdown in March 2020 and, like many, I was a bit overwhelmed. I often get anxious about what might happen, and I now had a whole new list of things to worry about – for myself, my husband and my children.

This anxiety (and a house full of children 24/7) influenced my spiritual disciplines of Bible Study and prayer. I abandoned my Bible Reading Plan and my prayers were either non-existent or fleeting and frantic.

I decided that I needed to ‘settle’ on one passage of Scripture and use it for my daily Bible reading and prayer until I was ready to move on. The passage I chose was Philippians 4:4-8. As I read and meditated on these verses over the days ahead, a format for prayer for anxiety started to develop. I turned this into a template for my daily prayers and was able to overcome my anxiety and find peace and blessings with a new perspective. Read on to see how to make a Philippians 4 Prayer Template for anxiety and to download your free printable copy.

How to Use Scripture as a Prayer for anxiety

Sometimes I find it hard to find the right words to express my feelings, especially when I am anxious.

So, I turn to God’s Word.

The Bible contains many passages that can help us when we are anxious. Many are prayers crying out to God for help or justice.

When we read words in the Bible that express how we are feeling we draw closer to God because we realise we are not alone, and that God has been there before.

We can pray Scripture by using the prayers in the Bible, like the prayers of David found in the Psalms.

Or we can adapt the words of Scripture and make them into our prayers. This is what I did with Philippians 4:4-8.

Further Reading:

7 Bible Verses to Pray before Reading the Bible

Scripture Plan for Trying Times

The Philippians 4 Prayer for Anxiety Template

The passage in Philippians 4 is part of an Epistle or letter. It is giving instructions to other people, not a prayer to God. But, as we take on these words of instruction, we can turn them into prayer as we ask God for his help, forgiveness, and guidance.

Here are the different sections of prayer from Philippians 4:4-8.

Prayer for Anxiety Step 1: Rejoice Always

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Phil 4:4 (NIV)

This is a great place to start any prayer – but especially a prayer for anxiety!

Rejoice in the Lord. Come to your prayer from a place of praise. Thank God for all he has done and praise him for who he is.

If you are struggling with your emotions or circumstances and finding it difficult to be joyful, ask God to help you and give you joy.

Prayer for Anxiety Step 2: Prayer and Confession about your words and actions

 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Phil 4:5

During lockdown, this was often a time of confessing my lack of gentleness when talking to my children!

As I struggled with my own anxieties over lockdown I noticed that my words to my family were often short.

But as I prayed about this each day, asking for God’s forgiveness and help, not only to be gentle but for my ‘gentleness to be evident to all’ I began to see a change.

‘Gentleness’ became my focus, and my goal, and as I changed the way I spoke to the children they responded and our relationships and situation became more relaxed and fun.

As you come to this section of the Philippians 4 Prayer Template, think of the people in your life. How are you treating them? What behaviours or attitudes are ‘evident to all’? Confess any wrong behaviours to God and ask for his strength and help to become gentle.

Prayer for Anxiety Step 3: Pray for your needs

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6

This is the big one!

I was allowing my anxieties to determine my attitude and my behaviour.

But now that I had a more structured, Biblically-based prayer life, I was able to tackle these anxieties with God’s help.

I considered every situation that was causing me anxiety and brought it to God. I replaced my complaining with thanksgiving and my worries with requests.

I was now focused on the positives, the solutions, and trusting God.

This is what we need to do when we come to this section of our Philippians 4 Prayer Template.

In every situation:

• Be thankful
• Focus on the solution, not the problem
• Trust God with the situation and your anxiety

Prayer for Anxiety Step 4: Pray for peace and protection

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7

As I handed over my anxieties to God, I sensed his peace over me. However, it is extremely easy to let negative thoughts and emotions back in again.

This is why I also prayed for protection. My heart and mind need to be guarded at all times.

God’s peace protects my heart from anxiety and my mind from worry.

In any situation, pray for God’s peace to protect you and your family.

Prayer for Anxiety Step 5: Think about excellent and praiseworthy things.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Phil 4:8

We shouldn’t just try and stop negative thoughts; we should replace them with positive ones!

Paul understood this and instructed his readers to think about excellent and praiseworthy things.

In my prayer journal, I listed the words true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy and wrote down anything from my day that fitted these descriptions;

• A word from Scripture,
• Birdsong,
• Time with my kids,
• Hearing about acts of kindness
• God loves me and is faithful

Praise God for these things and ask him to help you focus on these rather than your worries.

Download my free Philippians 4 Prayer Template

Use the form below to download my free Philippians 4 Prayer Template. Stick it in your prayer journal or place it in your Bible for easy access.

Summary of the Philippians 4 Prayer Template

Here’s a final summary, which may be useful to recall in times of need:

• Rejoice in the Lord,
• Pray that your ‘gentleness will be evident to all’, confess when it is not,
• Present your requests to God, with thanksgiving,
• Pray for God to protect your heart and mind,
• Think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent.

Over the year I have had a number of times when praying through this template has been a blessing, and I pray that it will be to you too.