Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November
20, 2011
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
We’re going to take one more week away from Revelation because it’s my turn
to teach in the Spanish Fellowship, and they’re in the book of Philippians.
The theme of
Philippians is joy. 14 times the words “joy”
or “rejoice” are
found in this little four chapter epistle.
The passage I want to look at today isn’t directly about “joy”, but it’s
the foundation of joy, knowing how to find God’s peace. It’s
hard to find “joy” if you don’t have “peace”.
Keep in mind, Paul is writing all this while sitting in a Roman prison
cell.
(Php
4:6–7 NKJV) —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.
4:6-7 Call to
Prayer
:6 Be anxious for nothing
:6 anxious
– merimnao –to care for something; to
be anxious
The word originally started out as the idea of caring for something or
someone, and that can be a good thing.
We are to “care” for one another (1Cor. 12:25)
(1 Co 12:25
NKJV) —25 that there should be no schism in the
body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
The problem comes when you “care” too much for the wrong things. This is when you risk worry or anxiety over
the person or situation.
When Paul tells us not to be “anxious” over anything, he’s NOT saying that
we should stop caring for people or things.
We need to know what to do with that “care”. We need to pray.
What are we anxious about?
Some of us are
worried about marriage.
Is there a special person for me?
Will I ever meet that person?
Maybe you’re married but you’re worried where your marriage is
heading? Will you be able to work things
out?
Some of us are
worried about finances.
Will my job survive this economy?
Will I be able to pay all the bills at the end of the month? Will I be able to find a new job?
Some of us are
worried about our kids.
Will I do a good job as a parent?
What if my kids are not walking with the Lord?
Some of us are
worried about the future of our planet.
We look at the news and worry about global warming or nuclear war.
We worry about who the next president will be.
Turn to Mat. 6:25. It was just a
week ago Thursday that some of us were on the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus
gave His Sermon on the Mount. (Play Mount of Beatitudes
clip) The two clips I’ve put together come from two times of the year. In the
springtime it’s green with flowers. In
the fall, the fields were brown. Listen
how Jesus applies this to worry …
(Mt 6:25–34 NKJV) —25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you
will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is
not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the
birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by
worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to
you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will
He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not
worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we
wear?’ 32 For after all
these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need
all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not
worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.
Too often we get sidetracked with our worries in this life.
Jesus encouraged us to make the kingdom of God our first priority.
We need to be concerned about what God is doing in our hearts, how He is
molding us, how He wants to mature us.
He will make these other things work themselves out.
:6 but in everything
by prayer and supplication
:6 prayer
– proseuche – prayer addressed to God
This is the general word for prayer.
:6 supplication
– deesis – need; a seeking, asking
The idea is making specific
requests for specific needs.
Instead of becoming worried and anxious about things, we are to learn to
commit these “cares” to prayer, to ask God for help in each concern. This is how we connect God’s kingdom to our
lives – in prayer.
Paul is a man who knows what he’s talking about. He practices what he preaches.
Look at a snippet he shares about his prayer life:
When Paul heard about the people in Rome who had come to Christ, he wanted
to come and visit them. But instead of
worrying about how he was going to afford the trip, or what the weather would
be like on a boat ride to Rome, he prayed…
(Ro
1:9–10 NKJV) —9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of
His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I
may find a way in the will of God to come to you.
When he heard about how the Colossians had come to trust in Christ, he
didn’t worry about whether or not they would continue to follow Christ, He
prayed…
(Col 1:9–12 NKJV) —9 For this reason we
also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that
you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding; 10 that you may walk
worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good
work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened
with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and
longsuffering with joy; 12
giving
thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in the light.
What do you pray for?
Paul says to learn to pray about “everything”
It doesn’t mean that we are to pray for every single thing in the
universe. It means I am to pray for everything I care for.
I find that sometimes even when I forget the things I’m anxious about, the
weight of the anxiety is still there.
I’ve learned to develop a prayer list to remind me of the things I ought to be praying
for. Here are the kinds of things I’m
learning to pray for.
People
There are certain people that I’ve learned that I need to be praying for
regularly.
To be honest, I’m not at the place where I can pray for every single person
that I come into contact with, not every day.
But there are certain people I think I have an obligation to
I pray for my
family
I pray for
certain friends
I pray for
myself
Sometimes I come to my senses and realize that I lack certain things – like
self-control, grace, or wisdom – I am learning to ask God for more of these.
James says,
(Jas 4:2b NKJV) Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
One of the dangers of a prayer list is putting too much on it too
quick. It’s better to pray consistently
for a few people than to only pray once or twice for everyone in the phone book
and then quit praying because I can’t do it all.
I’ve learned to expand my prayer list beyond those basic categories, but I
only do it carefully. And so …
I pray for the leaders of the various ministries under my
supervision.
I pray strategically – I pray for key people in the world that
are at the forefront of God’s work around the world – I want to be a part of
what God is doing.
Issues
I think there’s a sense in which it’s okay to just lift a person’s name
before the Lord and ask Him to work.
The High Priest
had the names of the tribes of Israel engraved on stones on his shoulders and on stones on the breastplate.
It was as if He was “carrying” them on his shoulders and
that these names were “on his heart”.
But I find that it’s also important to pray for specific things for people.
Just what are you asking God to do for these people? What are their needs?
Specific requests.
:6 with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God
:6 thanksgiving
– eucharistia – thankfulness; the
giving of thanks
The grateful acknowledgment of God’s mercies.
I have to admit, when I hear the word “thanksgiving”, I think of what’s
coming next Thursday. I think of … food.
There … now don’t you feel ready for Thanksgiving? And who needs turkey? Toast and Popcorn will do!!!
The giving of
thanks is an important part of prayer.
If we ever think of saying “thanks”, it’s usually after something good has
happened.
But Paul encourages us to say “thanks” along with our requests.
I believe that
it’s all about expressing our “faith”, or our “trust” in God.
Have you ever said “thanks” to someone for something they promised to do,
before they did it?
How about if
you go out to lunch with a friend, and at the end of the lunch they ask if they
can pick up the tab, you argue a bit, but in the end give in and simply say
“thanks”.
You didn’t wait to say “thanks” until after they paid the check, you said
it before they paid because you believed they would keep their promise and do what they
said they would do.
What does God promise to do?
He promises to
hear our prayers
(Je 29:12
NKJV) Then you
will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
He promises to meet
our needs
(Php 4:19 NKJV) And my God
shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
He is a loving Father who cares about His children.
(Mt
7:8–11 NKJV) —8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him
who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his
son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him
a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask
Him!
Sometimes we get hung up on thinking we have to “believe” that God will
give us that new car that we’re “claiming” for ourselves. And if we just have enough “faith”, then we
can ask for whatever we want. We start
thinking that God is a magic “genie” at our disposal.
Illustration
A man is walking down the beach and comes across an old bottle. He picks it up, rubs
it, and out pops a
genie. The genie says, “Thank you for freeing me from the bottle … In return I
will grant you three wishes.” The man says “Great! I always dreamed of this and
I know exactly what I want. First, I want one billion dollars in a Swiss bank account.”
Poof! There is a flash of light and a piece of paper with account numbers
appears in his hand. He continues, “Next, I want a brand new red Ferrari right here.” Poof!
There is a flash of light and a bright red brand-new Ferrari appears right next
to him. He continues, “Finally, I want to be irresistible to women.” Poof! There is a flash of
light and he turns
into a box of chocolates.
If you still think that prayer is some sort of magic power and God is a
genie in the bottle granting you three wishes, you are sadly mistaken.
Prayer is all about bringing ourselves into align with the will of Almighty
God for our lives.
Jesus taught us to pray,
(Mt 6:10 NKJV) Your kingdom come. Your will be done On
earth as it is in heaven.
If you are asking God for a filet mignon for dinner, and all you get is a
bowl of cold cereal, then I’d say that God has answered your prayer by meeting
your “needs”, not your “wants”.
Part of growing up is learning the difference between “needs” and “wants”.
God is a Father meeting His children’s needs, not a genie obeying his master.
Here’s the issue with “thanksgiving” and “faith” in prayer:
Do you believe that when you pray, God hears your prayers, and He is going
to respond to your request according to what is best for you?
If so, then you can learn to say “thanks”
Be thankful that He hears your prayers.
Be thankful that He will do what’s best.
This is the kind of faith in prayer that finds God’s peace.
:7 and the peace
of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.
There is a peace that God can give that defies understanding, and I’m not
going to try and describe it.
Everyone around you will see what is going on in your life and be worried
for you.
Yet somehow you are no longer worried.
You have God’s peace.
will guard – phroureo –
to guard, protect by a military guard
Prayer’s results
Sometimes we will see incredible, supernatural answers to our prayers. But I want to talk about a few unexpected
results of prayer.
Peace
Instead of anxiety, you find God’s peace.
To be honest, sometimes I don’t pray correctly. I don’t take the time to squarely put things
into God’s hands. Instead of peace, I
just get more worried because my prayer list becomes a worry list.
But when I put things squarely in God’s hands, I am blown away with the
peace I receive in exchange.
Clarity
I find that sometimes when I don’t know the answer to a situation, I need
to commit it to a time of prayer – and God answers with clarity, with direction.
(Je 33:3
NKJV) ‘Call to
Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do
not know.’
Jeremiah knew what this looked like firsthand.
After the Babylonians had wiped out Jerusalem, Jeremiah was left with the
“remnant”, the survivors in the land.
When a group of assassins killed the governor that the Babylonians had
left in charge, the people didn’t know whether they should stick around or flee
to Egypt. They asked Jeremiah to ask God
what to do.
(Je 42:4
NKJV) Then
Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words,
and it shall be, that whatever the Lord
answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from
you.”
For Jeremiah, it took ten days of praying before God answered him, but God
did answer him.
Clarity doesn’t always come with a quick prayer. Sometimes God waits until He gives us
guidance.
Action
God responds and answers prayer.
Yet sometimes the actual action that’s to be taken is mine. Sometimes God prompts me to be the one to
take action.
Moses brought
the Israelites out of Egypt, but found themselves trapped at the Red Sea with
the Egyptian army closing in on them.
(Ex
14:13–16 NKJV) —13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and
see the salvation of the Lord,
which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today,
you shall see again no more forever. 14 The Lord will
fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
These are great words of encouragement.
Moses is encouraging the people to trust in God. But God has an interesting response.
15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me?
Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 16 But lift up your rod, and stretch
out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go
on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
The answer to the situation wasn’t just standing still, it was to get moving.
Prayer doesn’t mean that I don’t do anything.
Sometimes as I’m crying to God, I will need to get myself
up and do something.
It’s like the person who asks everyone to pray that God
will get them a job, but they never fill out a single job application, never
put together a resume, and never check the internet job sites for work.
I’m not saying that God still won’t answer that prayer,
but I also wonder if He won’t let them go a little hungry in order to get them
motivated to go out and get a job.
Are you worried and anxious?
Pray with thanksgiving, and God will give you peace.