Word of Encouragement (6/1/2021)
Let’s continue with Phil. 4:6-7: “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.” We talked about the seriousness of anxiety as a symptom of our idolatrous attachment to the things of this world and our sense of control. We saw that prayer is a perfect antidote to our anxiety. How, then, should we pray? We are told to make our requests known to God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
What a blessing it is that we can make our requests known to God! We don’t need to suffer alone when we have God. Even when you feel like you are all alone and you are surrounded by enemies and uncaring people, you can look up and approach the throne of God’s grace. By bearing all the punishment and shame and curse of our sins, Jesus reconciled us to God and gave us access to the Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly temple. Even when Paul was thrown into jail and had his hands and feet bound in chains, he was free to access the throne of God in heaven and commune with Him. Even though John was in exile, confined to the island called Patmos, he had free access to heaven and receive the revelation of God through Jesus Christ. There is nothing more tragic than Christians suffering alone in silence when the door to the throne of God’s grace is wide open to them. “Come, my soul, thy suit prepare: / Jesus loves to answer pray’r; / He himself has bid thee pray, / Therefore will not say thee nay.”
If we should make our requests known to God, it’s not because God doesn’t know what our requests are until we pray: “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt. 6:8). God is omniscient and He knows the deepest thoughts and secrets of our hearts. Then, why does He want us to make our requests known to Him? God wants us to acknowledge our helplessness and our desperate need for Him. Some may think that this is something all Christians already know and acknowledge. But I fear that, more often than not, we may be aware of this only with our mind and not with our heart. Just think about what happens to our prayer life when things are (temporally) going well in our life. We may continue to pray but the sense of urgency may not be as strong as when we found ourselves in the midst of trouble. And soon, we skip praying altogether under the illusion that everything is under (our) control. When we start praying again, we turn away from our foolish self-reliance toward God and His grace.
When we make our requests known to God, He doesn’t get annoyed. Rather, He is delighted to hear our prayers. It is like our relationship with our children. Few things hurt the parents more than our children choosing to suffer alone in silence instead of coming to us for help. When they do, we may feel overwhelmed by their trouble but we are glad that they love us and trust us enough to come to us. Of course, our omnipotent God doesn’t get overwhelmed by our problems. So, He delights all the more when we love Him and trust Him enough to come to Him for help.
Our prayer is precious to God because it is in many ways the first step of faith we take toward God in times of trouble. It is a courageous act of renewing our hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. He, who has no hope, doesn’t, and cannot, pray. But the moment he dares to open his heart and mouth again to pray, he is beginning to hope again in God that He is bigger than what seems impossible to you and He is able to deliver him from it. That is precious in God’s sight.
Is there anything you are not even praying about it because you feel hopeless and you don’t think even God can do anything about it? Why don’t you make your request made known to Him today? Who knows what the almighty God would do?