A Heart Of Thanks: Has Peace

Peace comes to those who think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

 

Philippians 4:2-9 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.

7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me--everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

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You cannot be full of joy and have a thankful attitude if you are arguing or if you are worried about something. The enemy hates peace and he will find a way to make it difficult to "think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise" when somebody has done you wrong, when somebody sees things differently or when difficult events comes our way.

Being thankful, rejoicing, and praying all work together to produce a peace that surpasses understanding. I need to decide to be considerate even if I don't want to be or feel like it. Sometimes it is a deliberate choice that goes against our real desires.

Prayer is a great way to change my attitude so that I can have peace and be thankful, Paul told the Philippians not to worry, tell God what you need and thank him for what he has already done. When I pray I can thank God for revealing the end of the story, I know he has the solution for my sin, I know that he is in control and I know that someday peace will be an eternal condition.

Help me Lord to be thankful for those around me even when they don't do things my way or when they treat me poorly. I want to dwell on the things that are excellent and worthy of praise so I can appreciate the people and the circumstances in my life and live with peace.

God Provides For His People

Prayer helps us rely on God to take care of us.

Genesis 32:9-12 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac— O LORD, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’ 

10 I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! 

11 O LORD, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children. 12 But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’”

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The childhood and early adult life of Jacob was such a mess that it produced a young man that would have a difficult time overcoming his upbringing. We can see part of his personality before he was born as he struggled with his brother in the womb. It is too bad that his parents didn't mold him and help him use his aggressive, outgoing personality for good but instead their actions only made him worse.

Despite his dysfunctional upbringing and his lack of godly character he still inherited the promises of God that began with Abraham and Isaac. Jacob was forced to leave home empty handed and all alone as he dealt with the consequences of cheating his brother.

God would use this time away from home to shape Jacob and prepare him for his future role in God's plans. He would have success and he would fail but God still prospered Jacob as he promised.

In todays scripture we see some progress in Jacob's spiritual journey, he is on a journey back to his physical home because God told him to go back, we can see some small amount of growth in his reaction to the news that his brother is on the way to see him but he still has a long way to go.

Jacob's fear of his brother drove him to pray and then immediately into implementing a plan of action. It seems to be the prayer of a weak, unbelieving man with little faith in the outcome. This guy is familiar with God, he knows his character and he has his great promises for the future but he still seems to be praying in desperation.

Jacob Prayed For God's Help Based On:

God's Covenant

The promises given to Abraham have been reaffirmed with Isaac and Jacob. Notice that Jacob approached God on the basis of the old covenant but we approach on the basis of the new covenant.

God's Command

When God told Jacob to go back home it probably wasn't so that he could be killed by his brother. The will of God will never lead us where the power of God can't protect and provide for us.

God's Care

There was a history now of God's protection and care for Jacob, God has been working on Jacob's character for twenty years now, I don't think that God will let that go to waste.

God's Purpose

Esau's anger could not hinder God's purpose and plan for Jacob and his descendants, especially for Judah (Jesus lineage), Levi (the lineage of the priest and the Apostle Paul (from the tribe of Benjamin).

God's Promise

Jacob needs to review the promises made by God at Bethel. He should know by now that God's promises will come to pass. (Genesis 28:12-15)

We need to know that we can't mess up God's plans and purposes in our lives even if our trust and faith in him is weak. God uses the consequences of our success and our failures to help us grow closer to him.

Our prayers are an indicator of the state of our heart, if we struggle in our own strength to overcome our problems after we prayed about something then we have trust issues with the only one that we can fully trust without any doubts.

Thank you Lord for hearing my prayers despite my little faith. Help me to rely on you to sustain and protect me from anything that comes my way.

Who Is Your Friend

You need the best friend possible and he needs to influence your life.

Genesis 18:1-4 The LORD appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby.

When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground. 3 “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. 4 Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet.

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It wasn't all that long ago that Abraham didn't know the true, living God but when God said go Abram trusted him enough to go. That was the beginning of Abraham's imperfect journey of faith, a trip that would take him to Haran with his dad, to Canaan and then to Egypt, a journey that was full of important lessons along the way.

It has been a bumpy road but Abraham has grown in his relationship with God, his love and fellowship with him has grown deeper and more intimate through the years, so much so that Abraham has became known as a friend of God. (James 2:23)

Because friendship is awesome. It’s always dangerous, because he or she who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will eventually suffer harm. Your friends will influence and possibly determine the direction and the quality of your life.

-Pastor Andy Stanley

Having the right friends is too important to ignore, so important that your parents may have forbid certain friendships or they may have moved to a different neighborhood just so you would have different friends.

We will see in Genesis eighteen and nineteen that friendships are powerful and have tremendous influence on your life so you better chose wisely.

Abraham is a friend of God

James 2:23  And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.

There are so many people in our Bible that God had a personal relationship with but Abraham is the only one that the Bible tells us was God's friend. (2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23)

Abraham was a rich man and had many servants, when three men came by his tent in the heat of the day, he could have continued to rest in his tent but instead of having somebody else tend to these guest he ministered to Jesus and the two angels personally. (Genesis 18:1,22, 19:1)

Abraham ran to them and offered hospitality (Hebrews 13:2), he bowed down in humility and after they came to the shade trees outside of his tent, he served them quickly and gave them his best food. (Genesis 18:6-8)

After the meal, Abraham receives a revelation directly from the Lord about the destruction of Lot's hometown, the wickedness of Sodom had grow so bad that God is going to destroy it. Abraham has already been involved with helping the people of Sodom physically by going to war and now he will intercede spiritually.

As a friend of God, Abraham was trusted with God's thoughts, and as a result of knowing God so intimately he knew how to pray for the world and intercede for the lost people of Sodom. (Genesis 18:22-33, James 4:8)

Lot is a friend of the world

Genesis 19:15-16  At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”

16  When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful.

You might think that Lot would make some changes in his location after he was saved by Abraham. We don't have any indication in the Bible that Lot or the rest of the people of Sodom were thankful for Abraham's actions on their behalf. (Genesis 14:1-16)

Lot setup his tent near Sodom and eventually he moved into town and setup household. This doesn't seem to be a mission trip, we don't see any evidence that Lot had an influence on his own family, much less the rest of the city.

Lot's depraved state is seen in his offer to give his daughters to the evil men of Sodom that were trying to get to the angels. This is quite a contrast with the fact that Abraham would soon offer his son to the Lord. (Genesis 22:1-24)

Lot's family was so involved with local society that they were unwilling to leave, his wife had to look back, and not too long after that his two daughters got him drunk and had sex with him just because there were not any other men around their new neighborhood. (Genesis 19:30-38)

Jesus is a friend of sinners

Luke 12:37-38 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

Revelation 3:20  “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

Jesus waits at the door and draws your attention to answer his call because he wants to be your friend for this life and for eternity. Jesus wants to fellowship with you at the table, there will be the greatest feast that has ever been prepared right after we get to Heaven and he wants to serve you. (Revelation 19:6-10)

Jesus is as devoted to you as the shepherd that gives his life to save a lost sheep, he loves you so much that he will allow his reputation to be stained to get you from the darkest places, and he will celebrate when you return. (Luke 15:1-32, Mark 2:13-17)

Proverbs 18:24 There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

Jesus came to earth to be your BFF so that you could have a peaceful relationship with his Father, this friendship should be full of joy and hope for this life and for eternity. What better friend could there possibly be? (John 15:13-15)

RELATED ARTICLES

Find Peace With God (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)
Is It Okay To Call God My Friend (crossway.org)

Stuff Happens When We Pray

We need to be praying with greater passion and power.

Video: Tauren Wells - When We Pray

It is amazing how much we can know in our head about a spiritual disciple and yet not take it to heart. For me that discipline is prayer. Just about any other spiritual discipline is easy for me to be passionate about and make a part of my daily walk but not so much with prayer.

My number one prayer is to be passionate and bold in prayer but as I look around me I don't think that I am alone in this because I see very little praying that looks like it did in the Bible.

“There is no power like that of prevailing prayer - of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat and blood.

Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.”

- Samuel Chadwick

We have been deceived by the opposition to put down our best weapon or if we are using it then it isn't being used effectively. We need to pickup our weapon and start using it so that we will become capable of using it better. I shouldn't expect to be competent in praying if I don't do it consistently.

Lord help me to get from a head knowledge about prayer to praying with passion and power.

Learning To Pray

Jesus gives us a blueprint for prayer.

Luke 11:1-4  Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As He finished, one of His disciples came to Him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."  2  Jesus said, "This is how you should pray:  "Father, may Your name be kept holy. May Your Kingdom come soon.  3  Give us each day the food we need,  4  and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation. "

Luke 11:9-10  "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

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The word was out that John the Baptist disciples knew how to pray and Jesus disciples wanted to get some instruction from him. Nobody saved a copy of the "John the Baptist prayer" for us so we could know if he did a good job. We just know that he taught them and it made the disciples think that maybe they should get some instruction from Jesus about it.

It is interesting to note that the disciples didn't ask how to preach or how to love more or how to do ministry, the only request that we have recorded in the Bible is to be taught how to pray. Perhaps they saw him pray or overheard it and they realized that their prayers were not the same as his, maybe prayer was a struggle for them so they wanted to know more.

I bet the disciples already knew how to pray and they probably did it sometimes. They probably prayed plenty of times while they were out fishing and their nets were coming up empty or when a bad storm came upon them while they were out in the lake.

I grew up in church and I don't remember ever not knowing how to pray, sometime between the nursery and the children's department I was taught how to do it, but even so if I could ask Jesus to teach me then I would probably do like they did. I need to follow their example and ask Jesus to improve my praying!

Jesus gave us a model of prayer, a basic guide to the content of our prayers, it is easy to remember this format with the ACTS acrostic:

Adoration, this is the proper place to start and it is where we should spend the majority of our time. (Exodus 15:11, Psalm 106:2)

Confession, after spending time in worship we should admit to God how we have fallen short of his glorious standard. (Romans 3:23)

Thanks, we have been given so much and it would be rude to never say thank you for our blessings, especially when you are going to ask for more. (Philippians 4:6)

Supplication, asking God to meet the needs of others and then for ourselves

It is very easy to get the acrostic out of order and instead of ACTS we actually do SCAT. We ask for our own "needs" and make that our priority when we need to begin asking from God after we have given to  him the worship and praise that he deserves.

It doesn't matter that I have been taught about prayer all of my life, I can still use words like frustrating, boring, confusing, intermittent, difficult, or struggle to describe my prayer life. It is easy to get discouraged and give up.

Hebrews 5:7 While Jesus was here on earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the One who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of His deep reverence for God.

Do you think it was easy for Jesus to have a prayer time?

If you think that you are too busy and that too many people are trying to get your attention and there isn't any way to get alone for prayer then consider how it was for Jesus. He had crowds of people begging for his attention and asking him to do something or answer some question. There wasn't hardly a moment of rest!

Jesus was in prayer in the garden just before he was arrested. I am pretty sure that I would be running away scared trying to find a place to hide but he was out in a public place where he could be found. I have to wonder if he "offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears" every time he got alone for his quiet time or if it was just his final prayer in the garden.

Was that the serious, passionate praying that made the disciples want to know more? I can be just like the disciples, I can be in my quiet time and suddenly wake up and realize that my lack of passion in my prayer time made it too easy to fall asleep.

Prayer 101

✔   Jesus prayed for others. Matthew 19:13-14, John 17:9
✔   Jesus prayed with others. Luke 9:28,
✔   Jesus prayed alone. Luke 5:16
✔   Jesus prayed regularly. Luke 5:16
✔   Jesus prayed in nature. Luke 6:12
✔   Jesus prayed all night. Luke 6:12
✔   Jesus prayed with passion. Luke 22:39-44
✔   Jesus taught persistence in prayer. Luke 18:1

Jesus life gives us an example of prayer, how to do it, what to ask for and when we should pray. There isn't anybody better to teach us how to talk to God than the Son of God!

Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

There is still a lot for me to learn and put into practice when it comes to praying. After all of these years of experience I feel more like a prayer wimp than a prayer warrior but God doesn't want me to put any value on my feelings, Satan uses them to get me to stop talking to God.

Thank you Lord for desiring a relationship with me and being concerned about me. Help me Lord to make prayer a priority in my life everyday.

RELATED ARTICLES

Pray The Bible (matthewhenry.org )

Prayer And The Difference It Makes (focusonthefamily.com)

Prayer For Beginners (desiringgod.org)

When Heaven Is Silent (youtube.com)

Prayer Resources (navigators.org)

Red Letter Prayers - The Jesus Way (youtube.com)

Growing Big Faith - Private Disciplines

Private disciplines help us to be more like Christ.

Matthew 6:1-8  "Watch out! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.   

2  When you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites do--blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.  3  But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  4  Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

5  "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.  6  But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

7  "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.  8  Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!

Matthew 6:16-18  "And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.  17  But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.  18  Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

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Discipline is a four letter word to most of us, we don't like being forced to do something that we do not want to do, we feel like we are suppose to do it whether we like it or not. It doesn't matter if it is exercise, budget, a diet or learning to play an instrument. Sometimes we don't always like disciplined people, sometimes they are inspiring but sometimes they get on our nerves, they make us feel bad, so we try to persuade them to be more like us.

Discipline is for our own good and that is even more true of spiritual discipline. Spiritual disciplines are another tool that God uses to help us grow closer to him. Our faith and trust in him will grow as our relationship with him develops, this doesn't happen by accident, there must be an intentional effort to get to know God.

"Students are to be like their teacher."

Right away Jesus tells us to not make a big deal of what you are doing. When it comes to being disciplined and doing good deeds Jesus tells us that we need to be a secret agent. If you are fasting, do your best to not look like you are, don't be a show off when you pray in public, God says that you won't get a reward from him if you have already gotten a reward from the people around you.

Don't mistake the purpose for private discipline, you are not trying to earn God's favor by checking off a bunch of good deeds, doing these things does not change the fact that you have been saved by grace alone. Becoming a better disciple is our goal. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Don't mistake the presence of these disciplines with spiritual maturity. They are not a guarantee that maturity exist rather they open the opportunity for it to develop. Sometimes the disciplines are being done with the wrong attitude but there is still some value in doing it. God can still use the time spent with you to bring you closer to him. You may find that it will get easier and the things that you used to dread will be something that you will look forward to.

Our selfish nature is always wanting to get stroked for doing the right thing but the lifestyle of the Christ follower is one that requires selfless discipline that will probably not get noticed. It is better that way so that we won't start to believe that we are anything away from the power of God.

My secret disciplines should include:

• Helping those that have needs that I can meet.
• Praying with the attitude that Jesus demonstrated in his example.
• Forgiving the people that have hurt me without even mentioning the offense to them.
• Fasting without looking like it I am doing so.
• Bible study, meditation and memorizing scripture helps us overcome Satan's attack.

This is only a partial list of disciplines but it is a great place to start. For more information on spiritual disciplines check out this page.

The life of a Christ follower should be a disciplined life so that your faith can grow. It takes a lot of effort to take up your cross daily and to put on the Armor of God. Without discipline you will be tempted to give up and leave the cross and the armor laying on the ground.