What does God say about Prayer?
Let us look at the foundational scriptures for prayer:
Philippians 4:4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- This verse is foundational because it gives us the right attitude and lifestyle which leads to a life of prayer and the key to unlock the power of prayer to get answers and ultimately peace!
- We begin by learning to rejoice in the Lord always
o Some sometimes; always (even when you don’t feel like it)
o Again I say rejoice because you didn’t listen the first time and you need to be reminded (all of us)
o In order for you to rejoice in the Lord always you must be believe in Him and that He loves you, saved you and cares about you and has a good plan for your life.
§ If you really believed this, you would be rejoicing
- Next we are to let our gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near
o This explains the attitude of our heart which should be on display for others to see
o We should have a gentle spirit and all men should see it and feel it
§ How does this happen?
§ If you believe the Lord is near and hears your prayers and is actively helping you and everyone else you pray for; you could have a gentle spirit because you would not be worried or afraid or anxious about anything
- These are the foundation you must establish if you want to build a strong prayer life
- Now God will teach us how to pray and what to pray for!
- Be anxious for nothing , but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
o These are very specific instruction; let’s unpack this list together
§ First, we must not be anxious for anything
· You must catch yourself doing it and stop it
· You must acknowledge that anxiety and worry are not from God
§ Second, you must learn to pivot on the word “but” which means in contrast to being anxious, this is what you should do instead:
· In everything by prayer (this means pray about everything)
· And supplication (this means urgent prayers 911)
§ Third, you must learn what it means to pray “with thanksgiving”
· With thanksgiving (this means to thank God for hearing your prayer request and thank Him in advance that He will answer your prayer and do what you have asked (as if you already received it)
§ Fourth, you should understand the end result of practicing the first three instruction in this list
· The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
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