Our prayers are precious to Jesus

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

There are times when we come to the Lord with prayers and intercessions that we find ourselves anxious about the situation or person we are praying for especially if it involves us and/or someone we care about. Here Paul instructs us to be anxious for no thing.

There is nothing too big for our God, nothing our God cannot handle. He has promised to never leave or abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). He says in His Word in many places that He does listen to us and hear our prayers. Revelations 5:8 and 8:3-4 speak of the prayers of the saints being presented to God in His throne room in a golden bowl as incense. God not only hears our prayers, they are placed in a golden bowl (a place of honor) as incense next to Him for Him to breathe them in and make them a part of who He is. Our prayers are precious to Him. We have nothing to be anxious for because our God cares for us and loves us (1 Peter 5:7). We and our requests are important to Him.

Paul also instructs us to come with thanksgiving. Over the years this part of intercession has become easier for me but when I first started coming to the Lord in the way Paul is instructing us, this part was difficult. I couldn't and still am not always able to come with a heart thankful for the prayer requests I am praying about. Some requests are too painful to be thankful for at the initial time of intercession. But as I prayed through this verse and asked God for clarification it became clear to me that God understood my pain and difficulty in not always being thankful for the trials and tribulations I was praying for. What then started to roll through my mind was the many blessings, times of faithfulness, and answers to prayer God had given to me in the past. These things I could be thankful for. If I could remember and be thankful for past answers and evidences of His faithfulness to me and those I prayed for, I could now come to Him with these current requests with a thankful heart.  

Come to the Throne Room with confidence, hope, gentleness, without anxiety and present your requests to Jesus with a thankful heart knowing and remembering His faithfulness and love for you and those you pray for today.

praying with a spirit of gentleness

Well the next verse in Philippians 4 is vs 5 but I wasn't sure how this might apply to us so I was going to skip it…it didn't feel right. So I looked at this verse a little closer and realized as people committed to pray for others especially if we are part of a prayer team, this verse can definitely apply to us. Prayer requests come from people and people can sometimes get on our nerves especially if they have the same prayer requests over and over again and appear to make no changes. We can very easily get annoyed and impatient with people and  their requests for help. We can even fall into comparing their lives and requests to our own. We are not immune to troubles and needs in our own lives and if someone is struggling with a situation that you would be blessed to have to deal with compared to your own struggles, we can develop the wrong attitude. So are you getting this or am I just rambling?

Remember that Paul started this chapter encouraging the Philippians to pray for two women that were arguing. Okay I’m a woman so I have a bit more freedom here but some women can always be arguing and being unkind to each other! Can you imagine the chaos these women were causing and now Paul was asking the church to pray for them and the situation? Now…

Philippians 4:5 “Let your gentleness (moderation, restraint, or patience) be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

We have just entered the throne room of the Most High God on behave of those who have asked us to pray. We have rejoiced over who He is. Now we come with those requests. We must come with gentleness of spirit, restraint of personal feelings and patience that Jesus Himself has generously bestowed on us. These character traits must be evident to all as we pray and minister to others.

The best part of this sometimes difficult instruction is the last part of the verse – “the Lord is near.” As always Jesus never asks us to do anything that He does not already provide the power to do. Gentleness, moderation, restraint and patience are not always easy but fear not, worry not, despair not! Jesus is near. He is our ever present help in time of need, even if the help needed is in praying for others in a way that brings Him honor and is a blessing to those near us and those needing prayer.

What a wonderful God we serve! Thank You Jesus for Your never ending grace and love towards us. We are a blessed people!

Praying with true hope

Where does our help come from? Our help comes from the Lord the Maker of Heaven and Earth! Praise be to our God, who was and is and is to come!

These are some of the truths we must remember as we bring our prayer requests to the throne room of God, our Savior and King. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we may enter the Holy of Holies, the throne room of the Almighty God with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). We also enter with hope. Hope that comes from the truth that we believe in:

·         We will be heard

·         He will remember our prayers and those we pray for

·         He has our best interest in mind even though His thoughts and ways our greater than ours and beyond our understanding, He has our best interest in mind

·         He brings all things together for good to those who love Him

·         His love never fails

·         He has not nor will He ever forget us or abandon us

The list could go on and on for all eternity. Praise God that He is indescribable.

Our hope does not lie in our ability to understand our God and His ways completely but our hope lies in His Word and His character. Remember this as you pray for yourself and others in your life. Pray hope over yourself and them. Pray that each recognizes, sees, hears and believes in that hope! Difficult times can cloud our hearts and minds and prevent us from remembering to whom we put our trust and why; leaving us feeling hopeless and afraid and angry. Allow God to pour out His hope over you as you pray so that you may pray hope over the people that are having difficulty tapping into hope.

Remember that our hope does not lie in the answer to the prayer and the timing of that answer. Our hope lies in Christ and His power to sustain us and help in our time of need. We have no idea how God will answer our prayers. We have no idea what His exact plans are for those wer pray for. We pray for answers and miracles where these reqests are concerned because we pray to a God of miracles that are alive and strong today! We must, however, remember that our hope does not lie in those answers, miracles and solutions and our ideas of the timing of these things.

          Our hope lies in the God of Creation, the everlasting Father, the One who is enthroned and will remain enthroned forever, Christ who died for us and shed His blood for us that we may live with Him forever in glory! Amen!

Psalm 33

²⁰ We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

Rejoice

Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, 'Rejoice!'"

Paul is teaching the Philippians to pray for each other, specifically a conflict between two women in their fellowship. This passage, Philippians 4:4-9 has been used many times in the teaching about interceding for each other and also for ourselves. I would like to spend some time here over the next few weeks, as we take the requests to the Lord in our prayer times .

As we pray, it is sometimes difficult to rejoice. The requests and situations are sometimes overwhelming and heartbreaking. We may find ourselves going naturally to how can I hep? Can this situation be solved? We empathize with the person or sympathize with each of them. But rejoice? No, sometimes that never comes until the prayer is answered in some way and some measure of victory is had. Yet, Paul tells us to start out rejoicing. In what are we to rejoice?

                                                   "Rejoice in the LORD... 
                                                                             ALWAYS
                                                                        and AGAIN I say: 
                                                                                 REJOICE!"

Most situations are difficult to rejoice over. But we can and are instructed to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice over the character and promises of Jesus.

Begin your prayer time rejoicing over who you know Jesus to be. He is our Lord and Savior. He is and will forever be our King. He is enthroned over all the universe - chaos and all. He will be forever enthroned. Nothing and no one can shake that power and authority!

His is a loving, kind, gentle and the bringer of peace. He promises to never leave us (Hebrews 13:5); to be our ever present help in time of need (Psalm 46:1). So as you pray, start out rejoicing in the Lord. Who He is and what He will do these situations!