Somehow, our culture has created this misnomer that prayer is a last result. There are people that will hear about some challenge and when every humanly option has been exhausted, they’ll say, “Well, we could always pray about it.” This is the complete opposite of what God wants in our lives. God wants prayer to be a source of sustainment for His children. Today, we’ll be in Philippians 4:4-8:
“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
First, in verse 4, Paul reminds us to rejoice always in the Lord. In fact, he says it twice. As Christians, we need to remember to rejoice and celebrate the blessings the Lord has given us. Think about all that you have to be thankful for: Your family, your friends, a house, a car, a job – whatever it may be, rejoice that the Lord has blessed you with those things. Second, in verse 6, Paul tells us to be anxious or careful in nothing, but in everything, let our requests be known to God. In other words: Bring everything to God in prayer, big and small. There’s a lot of things that we just don’t bring to the Lord because we think they’re small things and we can figure them out. God wants us to bring everything to Him in prayer. When you come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, you’re adopted as God’s child, according to Romans 8. Think about your own children. When they need something, they come and ask, right? My children ask me for food, complain their stomach aches, when they want to buy something, when they want to go somewhere, or when they need help. They trust that their dad will provide for what they need and what they want or will help them when they need it. The same is true with God, the Father. He wants us to come as His children and ask Him for every desire or need – big or small.
But notice that one little phrase in verse 6: With thanksgiving. God wants us to ask with a thankful heart. Earlier, we talked about all the ways we can celebrate how God has provided for us. Our attitude of thankfulness flows from those blessings and from the ways God has answered prayer in our lives and it’s a reminder to us that when we come to God with our needs and wants that we’re not just speaking to thin air, but we’re praying to the Lord and that He hears us and will answer. It gives us confidence that He will provide for those things we’re praying for.
Third, God gives us a promise in verse 7: The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. When we come to the Lord in prayer, the peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds and as a result, we have peace. We know that God will move on these things we’re praying about. We know that He hears us and that He will answer us. Our answer might come back ‘no’ just like I sometimes tell my kids ‘no’ to things they want to do or want me to give them because it may not be the best time or it may not be the best thing for them. God, the Father, is the same way. He knows what’s best for us and sometimes we don’t get the job we thought was perfect or it takes a while for something to happen, but God knows best and His timing is always perfect and sometimes a ‘no’ or a delay is necessary.
Fourth and finally, verse 8, Paul says that whatever things are pure, lovely, of good report, if there’s any virtue, or anything praiseworthy, to meditate on these things. God wants us to always remember the ways He has blessed us and how He’s provided for us throughout our lives. I believe this is for a few reasons. First, because when we remember how He’s blessed us, it makes it easier to come ask for other things and second, it gives us confidence that He will work again in these things we are praying for. Third, it helps us understan how much God loves us that He would personally intervene in situations or provide for our every need. God wants us to know that most of all. He loves us and He wants to be our source for everything.
Prayer isn’t some last resort. It’s the connection and the communication we have with God, the Father. Prayer is something we need to prioritize and we need to talk to God daily. Once we recognize and see how God moves in circumstances, we’ll learn to lean on Him for every single need that we have.
Here’s my challenge for this week: Start a prayer journal. Write down specific things to pray about and take time daily to get quiet and get alone with the Lord and pray about these things. As these prayers are answered, move them to a list of praises. Thank God for these praises as you’re spending time along and before you start praying for the other needs on your list.
This is part of a summer blog series to re-energize our faith in Christ. Choose the category “Re-Energizing Our Faith” to read more!