Daily Verse Daily Verse by Faithlife | Philippians 4:6
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4:6 Be anxious for nothing Paul probably was aware of hardships facing the Philippians (see note on Phil 1:29).
prayer Paul wants the believers to acknowledge their dependence on God and His provision.
Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Php 4:6). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
4:6–7 Worry is anxiety (Mt 6:25–34). Prayer is the antidote for worry. Three words express different aspects of prayer: prayer, a worshipful attitude; petition, a need; and requests, the specific concern. Thanksgiving shapes prayers with gratitude. In response, the peace of God brings power to endure. The peace surpasses knowledge, calming a troubling situation when explanations fail. Further, peace guards by keeping anxieties from hearts (choices) and minds (attitudes).
Melick, R. R., Jr. (2017). Philippians. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (pp. 1888–1889). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Melick, R. R., Jr. (2017). Philippians. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (pp. 1888–1889). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
6. Translate, “Be anxious about nothing.” Care and prayer are as mutually opposed as fire and water [Bengel].
by prayer and supplication—Greek, “by the prayer and the supplication” appropriate to each case [Alford]. Prayer for blessings; and the general term. Supplication, to avert ills; a special term, suppliant entreaty (see on Eph 6:18).
thanksgiving—for every event, prosperity and affliction alike (1 Th 5:18; Jam 5:13). The Philippians might remember Paul’s example at Philippi when in the innermost prison (Ac 16:25). Thanksgiving gives effect to prayer (2 Ch 20:21), and frees from anxious carefulness by making all God’s dealings matter for praise, not merely for resignation, much less murmuring. “Peace” is the companion of “thanksgiving” (Php 4:7; Col 3:15).
let your requests be made known unto God—with generous, filial, unreserved confidence; not keeping aught back, as too great, or else too small, to bring before God, though you might feel so as to your fellow men. So Jacob, when fearing Esau (Ge 32:9–12); Hezekiah fearing Sennacherib (2 Ki 19:14; Ps 37:5).
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 368). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
by prayer and supplication—Greek, “by the prayer and the supplication” appropriate to each case [Alford]. Prayer for blessings; and the general term. Supplication, to avert ills; a special term, suppliant entreaty (see on Eph 6:18).
thanksgiving—for every event, prosperity and affliction alike (1 Th 5:18; Jam 5:13). The Philippians might remember Paul’s example at Philippi when in the innermost prison (Ac 16:25). Thanksgiving gives effect to prayer (2 Ch 20:21), and frees from anxious carefulness by making all God’s dealings matter for praise, not merely for resignation, much less murmuring. “Peace” is the companion of “thanksgiving” (Php 4:7; Col 3:15).
let your requests be made known unto God—with generous, filial, unreserved confidence; not keeping aught back, as too great, or else too small, to bring before God, though you might feel so as to your fellow men. So Jacob, when fearing Esau (Ge 32:9–12); Hezekiah fearing Sennacherib (2 Ki 19:14; Ps 37:5).
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 368). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
6 μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε, “do not worry about anything.” Paul continues his exhortation by adding still another imperative without any conjunction. The figure of speech, called asyndeton, runs throughout this section, where commands are given in rapid-fire fashion without any connecting words to link one command to the other (see Witherington, 110). Now the order is “do not worry about anything,” or more accurately “stop worrying.” Once again Paul echoes the teaching of Jesus and reveals his familiarity with the Gospel tradition (cf. Matt 6:25–34; see Hunter, Paul and His Predecessors, 52–61; Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism, 136–41; Dungan, Sayings of Jesus; Kim, DPL, 474–92, who does not list Phil 4:6 in his list of “Possible Echoes”; Wenham, Paul). The verb μεριμνᾶν, “to worry,” was used in Phil 2:20, where it had the positive sense “to be solicitously concerned for” the welfare of others. Now, however, it has the negative connotation “anxious harassing care” (Lightfoot, 160), attempting “to carry the burden of the future oneself” (Caird, 151), or “unreasonable anxiety” (Plummer, 93), especially about things over which one has no control. Paul and the Philippians had ample reason for anxiety since the one was in prison and the others were threatened with persecution (cf. 1:28). So he is not speaking of imaginary troubles or phantom anxieties. Hence, when he tells them to stop worrying, to be overly anxious for nothing, leaving them no exceptions (μηδέν, “nothing”; cf. 1 Cor 7:32), it is not because he makes light of the troubles that they face but because he knows that God is greater than all their troubles (Beare; cf. lxx Ps 54:23 [ET 55:22]; 1 Cor 7:32; 1 Pet 5:7; and the “Q” teaching in the Synoptic Gospels [Matt 6:25–34par.Luke 12:22–32]).
ἀλλʼ ἐν παντὶ τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ τῇ δεήσει μετὰ εὐχαριστίας τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν γνωριζέσθω πρὸς τὸν θεόν, “but in every situation make your requests known to God by prayer and petition with thanksgiving.” What then is the alternative to worry? How does one gain and keep one’s equilibrium in a world heaving with anxiety-creating situations? Paul’s answer: by prayer. With the use of three synonyms strung together in a row—προσευχῇ, “prayer,” δεήσει, “petition,” and αἰτήματα, “requests” (see Comment on Phil 1:4, 9)—Paul emphatically urges the Philippians to find release from anxiety in prayer and yet more prayer (cf. 1 Thess 5:17; Pol. Phil. 4.3; 7.2). From personal experience he had learned that “the way to be anxious about nothing was to be prayerful about everything” (Rainy, cited by Michael, 197, who gives a telling illustration from the life of Principal Rainy). “Make your requests known to God”—as though God needed to be informed (cf. Matt 6:8)—is but the apostle’s quaint way of expressing the very personal nature of prayer. He is saying, in effect, that prayer is a conversation with, a plea directed to, a request made of, and information given to the supreme Person of the universe, who can hear, know, understand, care about, and respond to the concerns that otherwise would sink people in despair.
It may be, however, that the real accent of this sentence is not on Paul’s command for the Philippians to pray but on his instruction that they are to do this μετὰ εὐχαριστίας, “with thanksgiving” (cf. Rom 1:21 for the importance of thankfulness). Such God-directed gratitude accords with the tenor of Phil 1:12–18 and 2:17–18. Barth (122) observes:
To begin by praising God for the fact that in this situation, as it is, he is so mightily God—such a beginning is the end of anxiety. To be anxious means that we ourselves suffer, ourselves groan, ourselves seek to see ahead. Thanksgiving means giving God the glory in everything, making room for him, casting our care on him, letting it be his care. The troubles that exercise us then cease to be hidden and bottled up. They are, so to speak, laid open to God, spread out before him.
On εὐχαριστία, “thanksgiving,” see O’Brien, DPL, 68–71 (with bibliography).
Hawthorne, G. F. (2004). Philippians (Vol. 43, pp. 245–246). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
Passage Guide | Philippians 4:6 › Cross References
| The Lexham English Bible | |
| Psalm 55:22 | Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. |
| Proverbs 16:3 | Commit your work to Yahweh, and your plans will be established. |
| Matthew 6:25–34 | 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear. Is your life not more than food and your body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky, that they do not sow or reap or gather produce into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are? 27 And who among you, by being anxious, is able to add one hour to his life span? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil or spin, 29 but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. 30 But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, although it is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not do so much more for you, you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?,’ 32 for the pagans seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, because tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. |
| Romans 1:8 | First, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed in the whole world. |
| Ephesians 1:16 | do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention in my prayers, |
| Ephesians 6:18 | with all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the Spirit, and to this end being alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, |
| Colossians 4:2 | Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving, |
| 1 Thessalonians 5:17–18 | 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. |
| 1 Timothy 2:1 | Therefore, I urge first of all that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgiving be made on behalf of all people, |
| 1 Timothy 5:5 | But the widow who is one truly, and is left alone, has put her hope in God and continues in her petitions and prayers night and day. |
| 1 Peter 5:7 | casting all your cares on him, because he cares for you. |
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