(edited)
by T.M. Anderson
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known unto God."
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians Chapter 4 Verse 6
This timely exhortation stresses the fact that God's people should consult with Him in every
matter pertaining to life.( Isaiah 58:2) It is apparent that we cannot obtain the things essential to life unless we make everything pertaining to life a matter of earnest prayer. It is impossible to live a consistent Christian life in the sight of God by praying occasionally. Praying intermittently is certainly not praying incessantly and importunately. Such careless praying is not consistent with the exhortation to pray without ceasing. ( James 5:16; Luke 6:12;)
Persons praying spasmodically are like men that gorge themselves with food and drink on
special occasions and starve themselves between the feasts. We do not live from feast to famine
when we enter into a partnership with Christ in prayer. We are not disturbed by doubts and defeats when we make everything a matter of earnest prayer. (John 14:1, 27) We enjoy an unbroken fellowship with Christ when we make our requests known unto Him in daily prayer. He imparts to us the necessary strength to cope with the temptations ( 1 Corinthians 10:13) and trials incident to life in this benighted world when everything relating to life is made known unto Him in prayer. When the inspired Apostle said,". ..Let your requests be made known unto God," he was obviously emphasizing the importance of revealing to the Lord everything required to sustain us in life. We find it necessary to reveal both our spiritual and our temporal needs unto Him in prayer. Nothing pertaining to our life in this world is unimportant in the sight of God. He is interested in everything that concerns us in life. ( Matthew 6:31-34; Matthew 21:22;)
The Lord would have us understand that we obtain rest of soul when we enter into the
fellowship of prayer with Him. When Paul said, "Be careful for nothing. . . ," he revealed the true
rest of soul to be found in the covenant of prayer. He is urging us to lay aside our troublesome
cares and anxieties lest they hinder us in making our requests known unto the Lord. Paul was
saying in substance, "Be not anxiously solicitous; do not give place to trouble, no matter what
occurs; for anxiety cannot change the condition of things from bad to good, but will certainly injure your soul if you give place to it."
It is certainly true that we must cast our burdens and earthly concerns upon the Lord before we can make our requests known unto Him by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. (Proverbs 3:5; Romans 12:16; Colossians 4:2;)
Suggested additional reading for today Psalm 142 and Psalm 143
No comments:
Post a Comment