Philippians 4:5-7
“…The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:5-7
We are a bunch of “worriers” aren’t we? We worry about everything. And yet that wasn’t the design.
This passage today gives us some basics. First, the Lord is near. Great! Part of what happens when we worry is our perception is narrowed. It is a little bit like when you are asked to do a presentation or public speaking and you get up there and your heart is pounding and you can’t remember what you were going to say. The worry we experience on a daily basis is a lesser version of that. It may not feel like being in front of a crowd, but it does affect us. It is a mental and spiritual thing. On the spiritual side, it seems to cause us to be less aware of God’s presence. Sometimes we feel like God is far away…most, if not all the time it has to do with our spiritual perception and us. So yes, the Lord is near whether we believe it, or see it…or not.
And if the Lord is near…”Do not worry about anything…” Think about it this way, if you were fully convinced that the Lord was near, would we worry about anything? If the Creator, Savior and Sustainer of our lives was right next to us, not a lot to worry about (read Psalm 121 for more on this idea).
But we keep on worrying and the passage asks us to, “…in everything by prayer and supplication (fancy word for request or plea) with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. A couple of thoughts here. First, do you wonder why thanksgiving is in there when what you have asked for might not have materialized yet? Faith. The idea is that if we are asking for something in God’s will or ways, we can believe that it will happen (Matthew 7:7-11). And so the thinking here is that we should already be thanking God for His answer as we are praying about it.
Next, “be made known to God.” God knows everything so what does this mean? The meaning of the Greek word for “made known” carries the understanding of “recognize” or to reveal. But again, why do we need to reveal or share something that God already knows? This is the relationship part of prayer. Think about this…you may love your spouse or family members or friends and you think, “They know I love them.” They may know it, but they also need to hear it from you. Likewise, God knows our hearts, but the connection with Him is built and strengthened by saying and sharing our needs and hopes in prayer. See???
Here is what happens when we trust that the Lord is near and we are sharing and expressing our needs and hopes to Him. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Looking at these verses, part of what is happening, part of why the worry is supposed to evaporate is because we have handed over or given away, through prayer, those things that are stressing us out.
Often what we do though, is think or pray about the things that are stressing us out and then hold onto them. We may think we have handed them over…but we often grab them right back…so that we can worry and fret some more! You know it’s true!
This not to say that believing the Lord is near and letting our requests be made known to God means a pain or worry-free life. Not at all. But in all that happens, according to these verses we have access to a peace that is beyond what any pill or drink or drug can offer – no matter what is happening. It won’t change the circumstances, but it will alter how we deal, face and witness through.
A “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” What else can I add to that? Except to say that I have experienced it and it does…surpass all understanding. There is nothing like it. And I know many of you reading this have experienced it too. It is real.
This “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus,” is possible and something I think we are all in need of.
I know this guy who said to me one time, “All I want is peace.” That is great. We want that too. God wants us to have His peace too. It is waiting for us if we open ourselves to the Lord’s nearness and truly share and hand over our needs and hopes to Him.
Amen.
Discussion Questions
- Name some things that are really stressing you out right now? After reading this, what can you do differently to deal with them?
- Have you actually tried this before and not felt this peace? What happened? Did you really hand it over to God?
- Are you tired of worrying? Have you become so used to it that it would feel strange not to worry?
- Do you find it hard to believe the Lord is near? Why is that?
- Have you felt this peace before? Can you describe it? If you haven’t, what do you think it might be like?
Living Water 