“So Stand Fast” (3)

“Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown,
so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.” (Phil 4:1)

Paul, in his epistles, frequently tells us to “stand fast”.
Here, in Phil 4:1, he tells us how we are to do so.
In recent posts, I have been considering these:
First: “Rejoice in the Lord.” (v 4)
Second: “Let your gentleness be known to all men.” (v 5) Or, as it is in 2:3, “In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” 

A third way we are to stand fast, in Phil 4:6:

“Be anxious for nothing…”

A person who is “anxious for nothing” is standing firm.

This does not mean we don’t feel, or are not concerned, for what others are going through.
Back in ch 2 Paul commended Timothy because he “sincerely cared” for their state – where the word “care” in v 20 is the same as the word “be anxious” in ch 4, v 6.
In 1 Cor ch 12, Paul tells us that, in the church, “the members should have the same care for one another” – again, it is the same word.
We are to care for one another. We are concerned for each other.
Such care goes beyond just doing things for one another. We really do feel for one another; we are concerned when another of our number is going through a hard time.
We can’t let it go. It is not sin to care, to be concerned, in that sense.
It is a sin not to care.

But the sort of “care” or “anxiety” that Paul addresses, in Phil 4:6, are cares that take us away from our focus on the Lord.
Jesus spoke about these sorts of cares in the Parable of the Sower. He explained the one who “had received seed among the thorns” in terms of one “who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” (Matt 13:22)
These are cares that consume us and take us away from God.
We are not to be anxious in this way.

The Cure of Care: PRAYER

I am painfully conscious of many weaknesses in my life.
Yes I am thankful that I am saved by the grace of God, not by my performance.
But I am painfully conscious of many weaknesses in my life in my walk with the Lord, not least a weakness in prayer.

A consistent prayer life is basic to “standing fast” in the Lord.
Robert Murray M‘Cheyne put it: “What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is, and no more.”

We need to be sparing when it comes to our use of superlatives.
Especially when it comes to, e.g. a husband and wife having a disagreement: you should avoid superlatives like: “You always do this. You never do that. Nothing ever pleases you.”

But, when it comes to prayer, Paul uses just such superlatives.
E.g. Eph ch 6:18, “Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
Or, 1 Thes ch 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
So too in Phil 4:6, “About nothing be anxious but in everything, by prayer, and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

The A.C.T.S. of PRAYER

Paul tells us a lot about prayer in the words he uses here:
– “Prayer”
– “Supplication”
– “Thanksgiving”
– “Requests”

These conform, roughly, to the different parts of prayer.
A.C.T.S.:
– Adoration
– Confession
– Thanksgiving
– Specific Requests.

1) Adoration

“In everything by prayer…”
The word Paul uses there for “prayer” is a general word.
But, unlike the word “requests”, it is only used in addressing God.
You can’t use this word for “prayer” without turning to God and thinking about who it is you are addressing.

Warren Wiersbe points out that this word for “prayer” always carries with it the sense of adoration, devotion and worship.
In bringing your requests to God (as Paul eventually gets to in Phil 4:6) it is really important that you first of all know the One whom you are approaching.
That’s why it is a good idea, at least in your private prayers, to begin with a time of adoration and worship.

This how the disciples prayed in Acts ch 4.
“That a notable miracle had been done through them was evident to all who dwelt in Jerusalem, and [the Jewish leaders] could not deny it.”
They can’t deny it. But they won’t accept it: “They commanded the apostles not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.”
The apostles refuse; they can’t accept that.
So the Jewish leaders threaten them, then let them go. This does not bode well for the future and it will not be long before the first of them is stoned to death.

What to do? They prayed!
How would you begin in prayer? Maybe: “O God, we are in big trouble. Please help us. Bring down these horrible men who lead our country…” – or, something like that.
But these begin, instead: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them…” They begin by worshipping God, by adoring God for who He is as their Creator.
They go on, to worship God as sovereign. All this is happening just as was prophesied long ago (vv 25-26). All this is happening according to the all-wise counsel of His eternal decree (vv 27-28).

Arthur Adams, in a recent sermon, preached:

“God is sovereign. The Lord is the One who rules over everything. If in our trials in life we focus only upon our troubles we will soon feel overcome by the circumstances we find ourselves in. But a focus in prayer on knowing God, and that He is sovereign, quickly dispels any thoughts like that.”

Begin prayer by worshipping this God – “who made us” and “who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

2) Confession

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication…”
While “supplication” is not, in itself, “confession” yet it emphasises that the person praying is one in need. He cannot help himself, he is throwing himself upon the mercy of God.
God is powerful, we are not.
We need to be reminded that that is what we are: we are helpless “supplicants”.

Nothing so reminds us of our helpless position as when we come confessing our sin.
Rom ch 5:6-10 reminds us we were once: “Enemies.” “Ungodly.” “Without strength.” “Sinners.”
When we come before God confessing our sin we are conscious of our weakness and dependence upon the Lord, and of His strength .

In coming to God in prayer, we come as supplicants.
It is important we come, acknowledging – not only who God is – but who we are, what we are: We are sinners, in desperate need of God’s grace.

3) Thanksgiving

In making our “requests” of God, we remember “requests” God has already answered. Hundreds, thousands, of requests that God has already answered.
Many of those “requests” you probably aren’t even aware of because they were little more than desires in your heart, barely uttered. You don’t even remember many of them, because you barely put them into words.
But God heard you; He looked upon your distress and answered you.

We don’t remember most of the ways God has heard us and answered us.
But we do remember some. And we are to make ourselves remember those – and be thankful.

We also remember some requests that God refused.
I am as thankful for the many requests God refused, as for those that He granted.
Some of the things I’ve prayed for, I look back and think: “I’m so thankful God didn’t give me what I wanted back then.”

Be thankful. Be specific.
Just as we need to confess specific sins, and make specific requests, so being thankful needs to be specific.
Nothing gives us such confidence in coming to God with specific requests, as to remember ways God has answered us specifically in the past.

Above all, we are thankful for the way God looked with pity upon our “enmity”, our “ungodliness”, when we were “without strength”, without hope, completely helpless.
But He “demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
How can our hearts not be filled with thankfulness for such, and then we not come before His throne of grace with confidence?
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
That gives us our greatest confidence in making our requests.

We come thankful, above all, for the grace God has already shown us in Christ.
We must not let the anxieties of this world blind us to that truth.

4) Specific Requests

I emphasise that word “specific”.
When Paul says: “Let your requests be made known to God” he is thinking of specific requests.
Don’t pray in generalities. Have in mind specifically what you want to ask God for.

When the disciples met for prayer in Acts ch 4, they prayed specifically – but not to be delivered from all their troubles; rather specifically:

“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.” (v 29)
Then:
“When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (v 31)

Pray for the specific needs of particular mission fields: the conversion of this soul, provision for this outreach etc.
Pray for the specific needs of particular churches.
Pray for the specific needs of your own particular church.
Pray for the specific needs of particular friends and acquaintances.

The Peace of God

If you and I come to the Lord, “in everything”, coming before Him “by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving” to “make our requests known to [Him]” then there is this promise:

“The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7, note another superlative)

We live in a world full of trouble.
In addition, your own life is full of troubles. Anxiety-causing troubles.
Anxiety that overwhelms your heart and mind.

Anxiety overwhelms your heart.
In the context of Phil 4:7, the “heart” refers to your feelings.
It is so hard to control feelings! Whether it’s people or circumstances, so often our feelings run amuck.
We need a guard on our feelings, that will keep them so that they are healthy, health-giving.

Anxiety overwhelms your mind.
Sometimes we just can’t stop thinking. Our anxious thoughts keep us awake at night, and distract us during the day.
We need a guard on our thinking, that will keep us so that our thoughts are healthy, health-giving.

The promise here is that if, “in everything”, you make it your practice to come before God: “making your requests known to” Him, “by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving”… then “the peace of God” will guard your feelings, and will guard your thinking.

“The peace of God” !
This is more than just peaceful feelings – though it includes that.
In the Old Testament “peace” – “shalom” – meant “completeness” or “soundness”. It meant being healthy in every sense of the word: a healthy mind in a healthy soul.
The same idea carries over into the New Testament – though there, Christ Himself is identified with the peace of God. He is our peace: in Christ we are healthy, complete.

Peace through Christ means we hope, and we trust.
It means quietness in our feelings and in our mind.
It is the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, that comes to us through Christ Jesus.”
It is a “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” that sets a guard upon our feelings and our thinking.

Yes, it is a gift of God.
But it only comes – to you, to me – as “in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, we make our requests to God.”