Philippians is our focus today. Prayer is our theme.
We heard from Phil 1, but we start with Phil 4. We later return to Phil 1.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation or in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5-7
Is there anything in your life you are not praying about – yet it causes you anxiety?
These words in Phil 4 by Paul are simple and to the point aren’t they? ‘Don’t be anxious about anything but pray about everything…’
Such freedom we are given. About anything you can pray.
When we read the Letter to the Philippians we realise that there would have been plenty of things, that could have been causing anxiety to the Philippians.
Paul – their founder – was in prison – how he is he doing, what about the ministry and mission without him;
Epaphroditus – he is sick?
The conflict between two women involved significantly in the ministry of the church – Euodia and Syntche;
Persecution and pressure from the local Greek and Roman populations;
Faith anxiety some visitors to the church claim that you are not proper Christians unless you believe in Jesus and also do other religious things like circumcision.
All these things that Paul has been speaking into – they could have been causing anxiety.
Paul says, pray about everything and peace will come.
This is a wonderful promise. It is not about ministry or mission or worship or church or important things. So to translate that into my own life during my sabbatical, some of the things I was anxious about: my family; you guys of All Saints who I’d left behind; travel plans which got changed and wondering what God planned instead; that I would be allowed back into the Netherlands after a passport issue; stomach problems after some food or water issues; having a room in Ethiopia that was not too warm with no mosquitos flying around my head as I sleep…
The invitation is to bring this all to him… we can be thankful for that promise.
But we can be honest and say that many believers spend more time thinking or worrying over anxieties than surrendering them to God. Yet the promise is right there. Why do some not take up this wonderful exchange?
We may not present things to God because we are too busy or distracted.
Too busy to bring it to the Lord bar a quick prayer which really becomes a prayer like a balloon on a string, it goes up but it is still attached to us, we have not given it really to him.
Control.
To bring the request to God takes it out of our control. Prayer is about humility, trust and hope. We may feel we are being naïve. It should be up to us and a bit naïve to ask God to help…
Uncomfortable presence. Do we feel comfortable being in the Lord’s presence to bring those requests? I had an interesting experience on retreat. I was going away for a week. Alone in a house. The person – who would join by zoom – leading my retreat said I should only plan to do things that will take me closer to God than distract me. My previous retreats I always did a mixture of things – reading, watching stuff, praying, walking etc. Yet I saw the reaction in me, if it was ‘only prayer’. . All that time with God alone! I realized that my ministry had become a busy time and I had not had quality extended time with God for awhile. Now the retreat went well. But do we find it easier to be busy in our quiet times, bible song, and fire off a few quick prayers than deeply praying into somethings and drawing it all to the Lord…
Selfish motives
Am I asking this for me – is it a proper thing to pray about? I was aware of that when praying about my mosquitos and not too warm a room – I was also aware of being on a demanding ministry trip and I had slept badly a few days before…
Doing it wrong.
We can listen to prayers and think I can’t do it right. Newer Christians may meet some of us who have been Christians for some years, and here us pray for incredible things, with awesome intimacy, mentioning the bible and they think – I cannot do that.
I like how the Alpha Course teach on prayer in the course. When we introduce it, we are asked as leaders to keep it simple – ‘Lord, thank you for this evening. Help us learn. Amen.’ – so simple anyone can do it and maybe think – well if that is prayer I can do much better!
Another issue can be God.
Often when we read those verses from Phil 4, we perhaps start from the wrong place.
The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation… Philippians 4:5-6
We miss those four key words – the Lord is near. We begin with ‘’do not be anxious.’’
The Lord is near.
Trust comes before faith. Do we trust the God to whom we bring our requests?
Imagine his attitude when you bring your prayers? What is his face like?
Philippians is a wonderful letter to soak in. As we do so, our mind is soaked in the God to whom we pray. Jesus reveals to us what God is like – the one who laid aside majesty, became human – that is the incarnation we celebrate in 2 ½ weeks – suffered shame and death – for you and me!
I am in relationship with God, and that is due to what Christ has done and my faith in him. And as Christ’s work is complete I am always in good standing with him. We are saints in Christ Jesus – we are already in union with him. Like we are children in the house and off we go to talk to Dad – than being salesmen who need access…
Trusting God is important.
It leads us to say ‘’I don’t understand what God is doing right now but I trust God is good.’’
A quote from Tyler Staton ‘’Jesus has not revealed a God we can perfectly understand but HE HAS revealed a God we can perfectly trust.’’
Trust that he listens. And his word invites us to bring all the words we want to say around our requests. The psalms has such a range of prayers, many by David. We see him express joy, thanks, but also complaint (psalm 142, worries (69:3), anger (psalm 140:10), and struggle. Yet this is the man that God said ‘’a man after my own heart.’’ So about everything we can pray…
CS Lewis said – ‘’we must lay before Him, what is IN US, and not what OUGHT to be in us.’’
When we read Phil 4, a person could say, well Paul probably had no anxieties and all was well. We have seen it wasn’t. He was in chains. He had lost potentially years of his ministry. He had worries about his friend’s health. He had an unknown future. He had concerns about the pressure the Philippians were under, yet he says Lord is near, and bring everything…
The lie in our heads, can be that the Lord is near for everyone else but not us. Paul says, the Lord is near – to you too. And so perhaps when we leave here, soak in this letter again, about how the LORD is near. And What that Lord is like. The One who served you…
That is where the power of prayer begins – with the image of God I hold.
Power in Prayer
A person could suggest – if we present our requests to God is it only a mental peace? Yet Paul believes in the power of prayer to bring change – he encourages the Philippians that their prayers, at distance, have an effect.
‘I will rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me, will turn out for my deliverance…’’ Phil 1:19
By deliverance he means that he expects to be released. To be released would show God vindicating him.
For Paul his joy will come from two reasons:
1. That his release will come through the intercessory prayers of the church. This is an example of the partnership they share with Paul – they do not only send practical help and money, not only send a person, they pray for him too. By their prayer, they have brought their anxieties to God, they brought their concern for the imprisoned Paul to the heavenly father.
Therefore you could say that Philippians becomes a version of a prayer letter. They are praying for him. He shares how he is doing – so in his letter they may well see their prayers being answered – as well as giving them more prayer fuel, how to continue to pray for him…
2.The second source of joy will be the help of the Spirit. This can come to him direct. But also through the effect of the prayers they are praying for Paul – the help of the Spirit directly to him. The prayers affect his situation and personally influenced.
At times, in hard times, when it is like a storm around them, they have felt an incredible peace in the midst of it. Enveloped in it. Prayers were being answered for that situation and yet the people in that situation were at peace, feeling the direct work of the Spirit upon them. Maybe you can relate to that…
Finally, we return now to Paul’s prayer in Phil 1.
At the end of the letter he tells them to pray, at the start of the letter he shows them his ideas about prayer. And we see that some of the things he is praying for, he will later teach them about. Hudson Taylor once said: When we work, we work; when we pray God works. Paul knows in all his work for the Lord, he needs also the work of the Lord. He prays…
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Thanksgiving. His prayers are not just needs but include things for which he can give thanks.
‘’God who began a good work.’’ As we pray, God is present and at work in the lives of those believers for whom we pray… In a different way, the Lord is near – close to every situation.
Pray about everything. Paul will teach many things in his letter yet it is supported by prayer. He will teach on servanthood and the example of Christ.
He is praying that their love will abound more and more.
He is praying for love to abound – the GK word for love is agape for ‘’willing sacrificial love’’ – the same love which motivated all Christ did for us, how he served us. So he is praying the attitude of Christ – to characterize the Philippians. The love must keep on growing so that the church will thrive and appropriately deal with difference and diversity.
He prays that that they will be pure and blameless.
Later he calls on the community ‘’Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure.. so you will shine like stars in the world.’’ Philippians 2:14-15.
Paul in Phil 3 says our aim as righteous by faith, is to forget what is behind, strain towards winning the prize which is God’s aim.
At the start of the letter, he is praying, that they would be a community filled with the fruit of righteousness.
He adds:
And he says 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart… God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
He models a heart like Christ’s for whom he prays.
Finish
Paul was a missionary, a man of prayer. For all his intellect, experience, he did it supported by prayer. Let us imitate him.
Brother Andrew founder of Open Doors said: “Our prayers can go where we cannot…there are no borders, no prison walls, no doors that are closed to us when we pray.”
Paul was in a prison. Yet his prayers went where he could not.
What he said was true for him and true for us all. Amen.
Final prayer – Prayer shaped by Phil 1.
Father we pray that our love for each other would resemble the love shown by Jesus and that our love would overflow more and more;
that we would keep growing in knowledge and understanding;
that we would understand what really matters so we can live pure and blameless lives, until the day of Christ’s return.
May each of us be always filled with the fruit of our salvation – the righteous character produced in our lives by Jesus Christ – and may we all bring much glory and praise to you, God our Father. Amen.