Prayer and peace


Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious 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 ESV
            As I write this it would be easy to lose heart. The outer self is greatly threatened by disease, and so the inner-self may also feel threatened. The looming presence has drawn quite near and people have reacted. The momentary affliction seems heavy and appears to stretch out beyond the moment. Even if we overcome the fear of death and of disease there are worries are other worries which assail us. We can be overwhelmed; our weakness can be exploited to drag us down to despair. Our hearts can become lost in the maze of concerns and uncertainties. What if we get sick? What we die? What a loved one gets sick, or dies? What if we make the wrong choice? What if we run out of money? What if we never go back to the way things were? And the questions continue on and on. It would be nice to cry out to the heavens, “I can’t do this anymore!”
            John 15:5 tells us that we would right in that assessment, we cannot do this. In fact we cannot do anything, no matter the circumstances, on our own. This is why in verse 13 Paul will famously write that, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Paul is not looking to his own strength. He looks beyond himself to someone greater than he even Christ the Lord. The secret Paul has learned is not really a secret; it is the gospel the fullness of the gospel.  The gospel truth is that God has redeemed us in Christ, we are now welcomed in His court, and at His right hand sets our great High Priest who advocates on our behalf before the Father, and in us is the Spirit of God who marks as His own and who cries out for us where our cries fail and fall short. We can pray and that is a great a glorious thing. Notice the words anything and everything in this passage that means prayer is the universal response to all circumstance and the relief for every anxiety.
            Prayer should give us peace for it is the best we can do, it is the ultimate action we can undertake. We know, or we ought to know, who we pray to that He is powerful beyond all measure, and that He loves with an everlasting love. These two truths taken together grant us peace for when cast our care on Him we may rest knowing they are in good and powerful hands and will be dealt with. Prayer should also remind us what we are most thankful, it realigns our perspective.
            Peace is the environment in which reasonableness prevails. World, flesh, and devil would like for you to act without reason as Adam and Eve did back in Genesis 3. The peace we gain in prayer and in the trust we place in God which is manifested in and reinforced through prayer guards us against the attack from within and without. The sure defense is the gospel of Jesus Christ which is message of victory over all the enemies of man to the glory of God. God is at hand, He is not far off, and His throne room is ever accessible.
            Remember beloved Paul is writing all this from prison after years of difficult travels in which he came near to death many times. Remember also that Christ Himself knew what it was to suffer. The writing is trustworthy and true, and the one who sits at the right hand of the Father He has overcome that you can pray. Let your every prayer be a reminder of the ultimate victory that is won in Christ to whom be all glory forever. Pray and know peace. Whatever you may lose you shall not lose your soul as it held in the hand of invincible God and redeemed by unfailing blood of the Lamb.
Prayer
Father You are good, and Your goodness is manifested in as much as I utter this prayer with confidence that it is heard and will be answered. There was no small price paid that I and my brothers and sisters in Christ might approach, indeed we could never know how great the price was. Your loving kindness is amazing to us and we praise you for it. We thank You for hearing our prayers, for listening to our supplications and receiving our thanksgiving. We thank You that at Your right hand sits the very paragon of humility now raised to His right place of glory forever who is High Priest. Ah Lord may we treasure these things in our hearts, and may we come to know what we do as we pray more fully, and so to receive more fully that great blessing of peace. Lord we live in troubled times, and the troubles seem ever to increase about us and we grow anxious despite ourselves. Lord have mercy on us and help us in our weakness for we see but little, and forget so easily what has been. Guard our hearts and minds Lord, and let us act with reason that all may see Christ in us and through us come to seek Him and know Him.
Lord in this season I pray with all my heart that these words would serve Your good purpose, and bear good fruit to Your glory. I pray You would work even this to ease troubled hearts, to give rest to restless minds, to restore peace and reason to all who read. I pray for all Your people across this world that they would feel the power of prayer in their own hearts, and that the world would know the true power of God. I pray your peace for Your people, and grace for all men. Your will be done to Your glory. Amen.
Song
Christ the sure and steady anchor


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