Scripture Verse for 2015 - Philippians 4:6

A personal practice for many years now has been to select a particular scripture each year and to study that scripture, use it for reflection, motivation and encouragement. Another reason for selection a scripture or passage of scripture is to commit it to memorization each year and learn more about Jesus personally. This practice helps me to know who He is, what He wants to do in my life (our lives) of those who follow Him and to learn more about His way of thinking. I must also add that an additional benefit from this practice is to learn what attitude or actions draws God's responds. Most Christians that I know have a "life verse", that is a verse of scripture that is their go to verse from the Bible for every situation. My life verse is Acts 4:12. "There is no other name given among us whereby we must be saved." This verse sums up my entire theological faith about God and my belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord of the World. From first hand experience I have seen and witnessed the rejection of this Biblical thought and experienced the hatred others have for Jesus. The truth for me is that Jesus is the sweetest name I know, it is a name I love to sing, the simple mention of His name causes the demons in hell to tremble, and it is the only name in which I pray under and is is the name to whom I pray. While I wish I would have be able to have selected my verse of scripture to focus upon prior to this date in April the truth is that it just wasn't possible until now. There is no scientific method to my selection when choosing my yearly verse. The selection comes from simply reading the Bible, studying scriptures or sometimes I select the verse because it jumps out at me, or its a verse I can't remember seeing before. The verse could be selected because in reading the scripture I realize I don't understand it full or in part. Philippians 4:6 reads, “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” This verse of scripture both jumped out at me and because there is part of this scripture passage I have never realized until just now. In reading this verse today I first said to myself I understand this verse completely. It was then that my lack of wisdom and need of knowledge jumped out at me. Learning to pray is the first thing most Christians learn to do. We learn to call upon Him and His name. When I was reading this scripture today at first I interpreted and read the scripture in this context: When you are in need don't be anxious about anything at all. Be calm and pray to God. Bring your concerns to God and He will answer them. I confess I thought that was good theology too. It sounded correct when I read it that way. Looking at the scripture from my point of view it felt good too. I thought how could it be incorrect since the focus was on Him? It was at this moment I realized again my need for His understanding and right before my eyes I could clearly see where I was making a big mistake in the practice of my Christian faith. It was happening to me, I was not fully understanding the intend of God's word and I was making errors in understanding the scripture because I wasn't reading it properly. What I missed was two words that read: "...with thanksgiving...". WOW, my first attitude was simple but wrong. Tell Him our concerns and problems and then don't worry. The correct attitude should include not to be anxious at all. The correct approach to God is to tell him my concerns and problems but to tell him my concerns and problems by coming with my attitude in a proper and healthy mode. Come make my request known to God by including my thanksgiving attitude. Is it possible I have missed God's mark, His calling for me in my life because I missed those two words, "...with thanksgiving..."? God forbid that be the case, but certainly without a check and balance system in place in our Christian lives it is possible to misinterpret what God is really saying if we are not careful in reading His word completely. Until then