{"id":768,"date":"2019-01-14T03:04:44","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T03:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=768"},"modified":"2019-01-25T15:27:59","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T15:27:59","slug":"philippians-4-challenge-day-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-4.html","title":{"rendered":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"www.pixabay.com\"<\/a>
www.pixabay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HABIT #2: Pray with thanksgiving.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

READ IT<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.\u201d <\/i>(Philippians 4:6)<\/p>\n

Tens of millions of Americans are praying today, all for the wrong reasons. I guarantee you the number one prayer today is, \u201cDear God, let me win the Powerball.\u201d That typifies how we mostly pray (whenever we do pray). \u201cGod, give me this,\u201d \u201cGod, give me that,\u201d \u201cGod protect me,\u201d \u201cGod help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those aren\u2019t necessarily bad prayers, but the Philippians 4 Challenge is about learning to pray a new way: with thanksgiving<\/b>. You may not see it at first, but this habit ingrained over time can transform your mind and your heart from the inside out. If joy is an attitude, combining that with thanksgiving creates an attitude of gratitude. And that will change you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to be ungrateful when you\u2019re thankful. It\u2019s hard to be angry when you\u2019re joyful. Cultivate the habit of thanksgiving, and watch a renewed mind and heart bloom up inside of you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

WRITE IT<\/b><\/p>\n

How did you do with your Live It challenge yesterday? If there was a moment yesterday where you caught yourself going negative and verbally said, \u201cChoose to be joyful,\u201d share it with the rest of us taking this Challenge<\/a>!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PRAY IT<\/b><\/p>\n

God, I thank you for today. I thank you for your incredible blessings. I thank you for the gift of life. I thank you for the family you placed me in. I thank you for all you\u2019ve given me. I thank you for giving me a heart that yearns to be closer to you.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

LIVE IT<\/b><\/p>\n

On a sheet of paper, write down ten things (or people) you\u2019re thankful for. Carry that sheet of paper with you today and three different times today verbally thank God in prayer for all that He\u2019s given you. (The more you\u2019re thankful, the more you\u2019ll see your mind begin to transform).<\/i><\/p>\n

After you\u2019re done, encourage others to do the same! Help spread the word about the Philippians 4 Challenge by using <\/i>#phil4challenge<\/i><\/b> on social media!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HABIT #2: Pray with thanksgiving.   READ IT \u201cDo not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.\u201d (Philippians 4:6) Tens of millions of Americans are praying today, all for the wrong reasons. I guarantee you the number one prayer today is, \u201cDear God,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[365],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phil4challenge"],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippians 4 Challenge: Day 4 - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Day 4 of the Philippians 4 Challenge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 4 - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Day 4 of the Philippians 4 Challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-4.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-14T03:04:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-25T15:27:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 4 - 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