How to Let The Peace Of God Rule Your Heart
The Bible is full of Scriptures about God’s peace. Since the world is often full of chaos and disorder, we need to go to God if we want to experience peace.
It’s easy to let fear, anxiety, worry, restlessness, and angst rule over us. Over 40 million people in the U.S. alone experience symptoms of anxiety. And most people deal with it before they’re adults.
We have no peace when we’re experiencing anxiousness and fear. But the Bible says that the peace of Christ can rule in our heart. That means that even in the presence of fear and worry, the perfect peace of God can rule over our other feelings. Peace can take precedence when we fix our eyes on Jesus.
How do we let God’s peace rule in our heart?
We let peace rule by drawing near to God in prayer, walking by faith, knowing what the Bible says, and by living out Biblical principles.
In this post, I’ll share what each of those mean, and how they will help you let the peace of God rule in your heart.
Draw near to God
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
James 4:8 NKJV
We need to be intentional in drawing near to God and developing a relationship with Him. Most people neglect this principle because God is omnipresent, or everyone at once.
It’s true that God is not limited by space or time. He is present everywhere, and at all times.
But the Bible makes it clear that we can draw near to God, and also move further away from Him. We can approach God in prayer and actively move closer to Him.
How is that possible?
Because proximity doesn’t equal being close to someone. I can be standing behind someone in line at the grocery store and be physically close to them, but I don’t have any relationship with them. I don’t even know their name. We can be physically close to God without necessarily having a relationship with Him or experiencing His peace.
We draw near to God through prayer, fasting, listening to sermons, worshipping, and reading the Bible. When we’re intentional about building our relationship with God, we can expect Him to draw near to us.
Psalm 16:11 says that in God’s presence is fullness of joy.
When we draw near to God, we will experience His perfect peace and joy. Those feelings will push out the fear and worry that we’re experience and replace it with joyful peace.
Walk by faith
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV
What does it mean to walk by faith? If you start walking around with your eyes closed, you’ll bump into things, and likely end up getting hurt. Walking by faith doesn’t mean we’re walking around with our eyes closed. Instead, it means that we recognize that God is more powerful than our current circumstances.
Even when things look bad, we can trust in God’s goodness.
Abraham is a great example of this. God told Abraham that him and Sarah would have a child, and his descendants would be more numerous than the stars in the sky. But, Abraham was close to 100 years old, and Sarah was approaching 90. Walking by sight would tell Abraham that having a child wasn’t possible. Walking by faith doesn’t mean that Abraham believed he was 25—that’s delusional. Instead, Abraham believed that God was able to do the impossible.
Abraham didn’t ignore his current circumstances, but he trusted that God is greater than his current situation. The Bible says that Abraham faced the facts, but didn’t let what he saw discredit what God had said.
“Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
Romans 4:19-21 NIV
When we walk by faith, we can have God’s peace in the midst of chaotic and stressful situations that don’t make sense at the time. You can have peace even when it looks like you shouldn’t have any.
Know what the Bible says
Do you know what the Bible says about peace? If not, it will be difficult to experience and live in the peace of God.
We need to be confident in what the Bible says because we’re going to run into adverse words. Our circumstances and other people will tell us that peace is impossible because of x, y, and z.
Imagine someone telling you that your bank account only has $50 in it. If you trust what those people tell you, it’s going to impact the way you live, and the things you buy. But, when you check your bank statement, you find out that you actually have $50,000 in your account. The truth is, you have a lot more money than you previously believed, but if you never checked your bank statement, you might’ve let what other people told you influence your life in a negative way.
We need to know what the Bible says so we can live according to God’s truth and not what other people or circumstances are telling us to believe.
Here are a few scriptures that tell us the truth about God’s peace:
“And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6b NIV
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 14:27 NKJV
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Galatians 6:22-23 NJKV
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NIV
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
Colossians 3:15 NIV
“The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.”
Psalm 29:11 NLT
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”
1 Corinthians 14:33 NIV
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Live according to Biblical principles
God has given us certain guidelines and life principles to live by.
He also gives us the free will to choose whether or not to live by them.
There are consequences connected to our choices, whether they’re good or bad. If we choose to live by sounds, Biblical principles, we can enjoy a peaceful life. If we go against God’s advice, we can expect more problems.
The Bible says we should be faithful to our spouse. If we choose to go against that, we can expect less peace in our life.
Psalm 85:10 says that righteousness and peace go hand-in-hand, and Psalm 34:14 says that when we turn from evil we’re seeking peace. We can’t live a life full of sin and expect to also live in God’s peace.
“Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”
Psalm 84:10 NIV
“Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.”
Psalm 34:14 NLT
That doesn’t mean we’ll never have issues or problems if we do the right thing. And your peace isn’t based solely on the choices you’re making. Jesus said we’re going to experience troubles, and there’s nothing we can do to avoid 100% of our problems. But, if we make wise, Biblical life choices, we will experience more peace.
Jesus lived a perfect life, and before going to the cross He was under tremendous amounts of stress. So much so that He was sweating drops of blood.
How to pray for peace
Philippians 4:7 tells us that the peace of God will guard our heart and mind. That peace is the result of our prayers. In every situation—good and bad—we should be praying.
Payer is powerful, and it’s how we invite God to help us and give us wisdom and discernment.
The dictionary tells us that worry is when we allow our mind to dwell on trouble or difficulties. Worry is a state of uncertainty about potential or actual problems.
When we spend time in prayer, we focus our eyes and mind on Jesus and what His word says instead of our circumstances. Prayer also gives us certainty that God is going to help us and work things out for our good. Prayer brings our needs to God and relieves us from carrying the full burden.
In Philippians, Paul says that we should pray with thanksgiving and present our requests to God.
The word used for thankfulness means giving thanks to God for His blessings. When we pray for peace, we should thank God for who He is, thank Him for what He’s done, thank Him for His character, and for what He’s going to do.
We also need to present our requests to God. It can be difficult to ask for help, but God wants to hear from us, and He provides when we ask for help. We’re usually worried when we need something we don’t have.
You should expect an answer when we present requests to God in prayer.
Even if you don’t see results right away, you can have peace in your heart because you’re trusting that God will take care of your needs.
Remember that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. We can look to Him for peace, no matter what we’re currently dealing with. The world around us if filled with chaos and disorder, but with this advice we can have the peace of God rule in our life.
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