Joy In Prayer

The following devotion is from A Joy That is Real by Daniel Owens, Chapter 19

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:4-7

One summer when I was a youth pastor, we took a group of high school students to a lake in the Sierra Mountains. The lake had a pontoon dock in the middle of it, so one of the other adults joined me in rowing out to reach the dock. We were fully dressed and didn't have our swimsuits on. Once we reached our destination, we tied up the boat and jumped onto the floating dock.

As soon as our feet hit the boards, we noticed something. There was a little hole in the middle of the dock, and out of it came hundreds of buzzing yellow jackets, disturbed from their slumber. I got stung eight or nine times before I could even hit the water. Without thinking about our clothes, we jumped in the water and literally swam the boat back to shore. We couldn't even get in the boat because the bees were everywhere.

Bees really make you move, as we found out. How many people have been in accidents because they were swatting at a bee inside the car? One little bee that could easily be squished will make a person go crazy. Some people are allergic to bee stings, so they have an excuse, but I don't know about the rest of us. Bees certainly get you moving.

In this passage we have a beehive of imperatives that Paul gives us to live by. They should get us moving as well. These verbs are in the imperative tense, which means that they are commands or obligatory duties. Your boss might say, "It is imperative for you to be at work by 7:00 a.m. so you don't lose your job." Here Paul is saying, "It is imperative that you do these things so that you can experience the peace of God."

The Message paraphrase by Eugene Peterson says: "Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Be Joyful
Paul gives his first imperative twice: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" This is a present active imperative, which means "do it right now!" Right now, even in the midst of suffering, in the midst of the disunity in the church because of the conflict between Euodia and Syntyche, Paul wants the Philippians to rejoice.

We have all had situations in our lives when we have found it difficult to be joyful. When we experience disappointment, when people hurt us, or when our lives are full of trials or grief, we don't really feel like rejoicing.

One of the things we need to do in the midst of difficult situations is look for God. Do you see him in the suffering you are going through? Do you understand what he's trying to accomplish in and through your life? Is God making you stronger?

A seventeenth-century preacher named Jeremiah Burroughs wrote an incredible book called The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. In it he explains why believers should be filled with joy no matter what their circumstances are. He gives a few reasons why Christians should be content and not have a complaining spirit.

First, complaining is a particularly serious offense in light of how we have been so greatly blessed--especially when we complain about trivial things.

I was standing in line at the bank, and the man behind me started complaining about the bank and the long line. He continued on in such a loud voice that he soon drew others into the conversation. After listening for a while, I turned around and said, "Listen, this bank is open six days a week. In some countries, the bank is only open one day a week, if that. Our money is insured by the federal government--we know it's worth the same this week as it was last week. There are plenty of countries where the government steals your money whenever they want to. I think we're pretty fortunate."

Second, Burroughs says that complaining is especially serious when done by those to whom God has been so gracious, because our troubles are often a part of God's plan to humble us.

Joy is the mark of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It convicts me even to write that. Yet I believe that joy is not based on temperament, personality, or feelings, but on how we let the indwelling Holy Spirit control our lives.

In times past, we were taught that Christians should be solemn. You may have been raised in that way. In the past, Christians walked into church without any laughing or greeting each other, sat down, and quietly listened to ministers who would not even smile from the pulpit because it was God's house.

In parts of that, we were on the right track. God is holy, and we should revere and respect him. However, we sometimes treat the physical house better than we treat our own bodies. Scripture says that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). He lives inside of us, not in a building made by man.

Do we shine the truth joyfully in our lives? Do we rejoice in the Lord during difficult times because we know God is at work in us? Paul could say "rejoice"--even from prison.

God bless you,

Dan

Copyright 2008 Eternity Minded Ministries