Help Me to Not Be Shaken, Lord: Application & a Prayer Based on Philippians

by Katy Kauffman

The list seems infinite to me. What can shake us in life and crumble our joy, peace, godliness, and effectiveness? The book of Philippians gives us examples of several “life-quakers”:

• Opposition (Phil 1:28; 2:15; 3:2, 18-19)
• Obstacles (Phil 1:7, 12)
• Sickness (Phil 2:25-27, 30)
• Difficult assignments (Phil 1:7, 13, 24, 29-30; 2:14-16, 17)
• Difficult people (Phil 1:15-16; 3:2)
• Conflict (Phil 4:2)
• Anxieties (Phil 4:6)
• Needs (Phil 4:12)

What helps us to recover from a jolt or from a season of “quakes” and “shakes”? What gives us stability and renews our joy? Philippians shows us that too.

Here’s how each chapter encourages us to recover so we aren’t shaken so much by these triggers that we fall into hopelessness. When we put these chapters into practice, our hearts and minds will be shaken less and less and we will recover faster and faster.

• Chapter 1 – Don’t be shaken by opposition, obstacles, and weariness—count on God’s involvement in your life.
• Chapter 2 – Don’t be shaken by difficult assignments—Jesus said yes to God because He believed the mission was worth it, and we can too.
• Chapter 3 – Don’t be shaken by difficult people and their agendas—press forward to gain Christ and all He has for you.
• Chapter 4 – Don’t be shaken by conflict, anxieties, and needs—God will provide for you and give you inner stability and strength.

Which one of these do you need the most today? How has God already been working in these ways in your life to help you not be shaken?

We’ve come to the end of our Prayer series based on the book of Philippians. If you missed any posts, you can find them here:

1. Count on God’s Investment in Your Ministry: A Prayer Based on Philippians 1
2. The Joy of Humility & Teamwork: A Prayer Based on Philippians 2
3. I Love You, Jesus, More Than Anything: A Prayer Based on Philippians 3
4. Make Me a Person of Peace: A Prayer Based on Philippians 4

I would like to close this short series with a prayer that includes application from every chapter of Philippians. Because of God, we don’t have to stay shaken beyond repair. Because of His work in our lives and His love in our hearts, we don’t have to abide in despair or angst. He wants us to abide in His love (John 15:9). Jesus said so.

Jesus faced the hardest assignment ever—be born of a woman, never mess up, live out perfect love, teach people who God is, stay self-restrained, heal and help and minister hour after hour, keep God first, and die for the sins of the world.

He did all that, and He rose from the dead as a victorious Savior.

This is the Lord we serve. This is the Lord we love. What wouldn’t we do for Him? Where wouldn’t we go?

And this question—what can’t we recover from, because we have Him?

Dear God,

In the deepest parts of my heart and mind, plant Your love, Your fellowship, Yourself. Help me to be certain that You’re always with me. Help me to have confidence in You, so that I am unshakeable. Remind me that this work You’ve given me to do, is worth all the hours I pour in, all the love I can give, and all the strength You provide to fight the darkness alongside You, so people can know You better.

Plant joy into every part of my life, and let it flourish when I face opposition and obstacles. Help me to know how to handle difficult people and difficult assignments. Let Jesus’ own quality of humility and strength rise up within me to carry me through conflicts and challenges. Give me Your perspective on any suffering I go through and to see how You can work it for good.

Silence the voice of anxiety, and let me hear Your voice soothe my fears. Make my path clear, and provide all I need to do Your will. Help me to trust You. Help me to find strength in Christ for every situation. For every season.

And I will rest. In what You can do.

And I will work. For Your kingdom.

Be my inner stability and strength. Sustain my joy with Your own nearness and Your Word and the people You’ve given me to do life with.

You’ve thought of everything. You take care of everything. I give You my everything.

Thank You for being unshakeable. In Jesus’ powerful and enduring name, Amen.