Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
It is easy to read Philippians 4:6 and come away with the
simple thought that God encourages us and desires for us to bring Him our
prayer requests. This interpretation is
absolutely true. But when we break it
down, we find that God is saying much, much more to us than might appear on the
surface.
First, and foremost, we are being taught to be anxious in
nothing. Does that make any sense?
Surely we all have daily concerns and cares that we need to attend to as good
stewards of our provisions, our relationships and our own spiritual
condition. God is aware of these due
concerns, but He is giving us the command to trust in Him. He knows our needs better than we know our
needs. He is actually calling on us to
have peace and comfort when the world would suggest otherwise.
After first resting in the comfort of His promise, then we
are urged to go to Him in prayer with our requests. But there is a stipulation attached as He
commands that we bring our thanksgiving in advance of our requests. Why does He
ask us to come with thanksgiving? Again,
it is for our peace and comfort. When we
bring our thanksgiving, we are reconciling with Him all the favor and blessing
that He has provided in the past. This positions us to approach His Throne with
the confidence that everything we ask for will be addressed and answered
perfectly according to our needs, our real needs.
If we are in line with the passage to this point, then our
thankful, angst free mindset will help us to meet the last command in this
passage which is to let our requests be known to God - not to men. This is a not so subtle reminder that it is
not our job to manipulate our circumstances through our own capability. Instead we are to depend on Our Heavenly
Father for everything in our lives. In
exchange for following His supplication process, peace will be our companion.
Let us go to Him in thanksgiving, adoration and trust. Let us rest in His peace as we wait for His provision.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your unconditional love
and Your forgiveness through Your Son, Jesus.
We ask forgiveness for coming to You so often with our needs alone,
accompanied by a stark absence of our professed love for You and our expression
of our sincere thanks for all that You provide.
Teach us, Lord, how to seek Your presence in our lives. Teach us how to fully trust in You throughout
each and every day. Teach us how to use
our prayer lives to build our relationships with You. We ask all these things in the name of the
One whose mercies never come to an end, Jesus Christ.
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