Prayer, Joy and Anxiety



Prayer, Joy and Anxiety

 

If you want to have a prayer life, and not just a life of spiritual grumbling and complaining, this passage from Philippians below needs to become a regular part of your diet. Without a call to rejoice and give thanks, we who pray for the needs of others and our nation, can start to sink into darkness. The best of people, the glad hearted, the cheerful, can crack when they carry the weight of the world for long periods of time. Even when the Lord is our strength, we need His spirit, hope and joy to carry on in the right way.  

Rejoicing X 2 helps us have the right kind of spirit toward mankind. A joyful spirit also benefits us in being aware of the nearness of the Lord. Yes, there is a time for the fear of the Lord, for being serious. But we must also learn about serious joy. A joy not of this world and not conditioned upon what is happening in the world.


Php 4:4-7 NASB
 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.


Many of us strive to have the benefits of God without following His ways. How many of us have tried to believe our way out of anxiety? How many of us have failed to invest in acquiring a gentle spirit toward others, desiring the anointing, or gifts or a position of title would be all that we needed to fulfill our calling? 

Let me challenge you with a spiritual discipline. Over the next thirty days, spend as much time giving thanks to God as you do making request and in intercession. This thanksgiving is not the same as expressions of love and devotion. Thanksgiving is gratitude, communicating what God has done for you and others. Joy is a part of expressed thanks, joy not so much in what God will do but in what God has already done. God’s faithfulness, His intervention, His guidance will be brought to mind and joyful emotion of thanksgiving will emerge in response. The fruit of that kind of prayer will be more peace. 

Today when you face cancer, war, disease, poverty and all the ills of humanity, balance your heart and be aware of history. God has been faithful throughout every generation. Rejoice – a lot. Be glad. Allow yourself to see who the Lord is both now and forevermore.

“Rejoice” in the letters of Paul

NASB  Rom_12:15; Rom_15:10; 1Co_7:30; 1Co_12:26; 1Co_13:6; 1Co_16:17; 2Co_2:3; 2Co_7:9; 2Co_7:16; 2Co_13:9; 2Co_13:11; Gal_4:27; Php_1:18; Php_2:17; Php_2:18; Php_2:28; Php_3:1; Php_4:4; Col_1:24; 1Th_3:9; 1Th_5:16;

If you want a read that includes "joy" you might want to try C. S. Lewis. The book is not focused on "joy" but is full of thoughts and ideas, encounters and worldviws that will help us be mindful of the Lord and be glad.
 

The Joyful Christian: 127 Readings By C.S. Lewis




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