The Book of Philippians Pt. 31 Pray Right and Think Right!

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I am so thankful that we have had this time to really study the book of Philippians. God put much truth in this epistle that we need to hear and heed today. I would like to begin by picking up where we left off in our last post, regarding prayer. 


Peace from God is connected to praying rightly.

Philippians 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

We noticed that believers are exhorted to not be distracted with worry or laboring under great anxiety. Jesus taught us that our Heavenly Father loves us more than the sparrows and He will provide for our needs because He already knows what we need and when we need it. 

We noted that prayer time should be spent seeking the blessing of God upon our spiritual endeavors, as well as making it a time to worship and extoll the God of glory. Our hearts should be filled with thanksgiving, praise and gratitude for all that the Father does for us who are "in Christ."

It is within this context that Paul tells us to let our requests be made known unto God. Thanksgiving is to be rendered to the God who sacrificed His Son, in order to save us from our sins. We can be and should be thankful both in good times and hard times, knowing that our Father will work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28).

We are not to hold any prayer request back because we think it is too big to bring to God. Nor should we fail to pray for the small things because we think God will find them too insignificant. The moment we were born again, we were put "into Christ" by God's Spirit. The Father wants to hear from all those saints who are "in Christ." He loves us, cares for us and has our best interests in His heart for each one of us. 

Jacob prayed that God would deliver him from his brother Esau (Genesis 32:9-12). King Hezekiah prayed by spreading out the threats made by the Babylonian captain against Israel (2 Kings 19:14). In prayer nothing is too big or too small for God.

Peace from God when our heart is right with Him. 

Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Verse seven begins with the word "and" which tells us that what we can enjoy in this text is a result of what we did concerning the last text. Thus, the natural consequence of having the right attitude toward life and God as we bring our requests to the All knowing God, is peace. 

This is not any ordinary man centered peace. This is peace of God that comes from God to us when we pray in the manner prescribed. This is not a temporary peace that we sometimes enjoy when there are no immediate problems to deal with, or no major crisis staring us in the face. It is a peace that passes all understanding. 

True peace comes from knowing Christ. 

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us that He was giving us His peace. It is not like the peace of the world that comes and goes so quickly. It is a peace that calms the troubled heart and causes us to rest in the work and person of Christ. 

John 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 

Jesus spoke about peace again in John's gospel and in this text He told us that we have peace from His words. Hearing and heeding instruction from our Master will bring peace. The world is always going to be filled with tribulation, turmoil and trouble, but the born again believer should be of good cheer. Why? Because the One in whom we put our faith, has overcome the world. 

Peace that passes all human understanding. 

Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

The word "passeth" means to exceed abundantly to go beyond what we thought about "peace" because it is peace with God that is from God. This wonderful peace passes our ability to "understand" it. Our minds cannot grapple with this kind of peace because it exceeds our capacity for spiritual truth. 

Peace from God will "keep" our hearts and minds. The word "keep" refers to having a military guard to protect and preserve our minds and hearts. The word "hearts" refers to the center and seat of our spiritual life. It involves our will, our desires, our affections and our intellect. 

The word "minds" reminds us that we are what we think. It we think right things it will change our actions and words to reflect God (Proverbs 23:7). This is really important because Paul is going to tell us what we ought to think about in the very next text!

Think on these things!

Philippians 4:8-9  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9) Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Paul gave us a clear command to think on those things. It is in the middle voice which means we both receive the command and are given the responsibility to complete the command. It is present tense meaning that we are to be obeying this command each day for as long as we live. 

Paul gave a list of seven Christian virtues and commands us to think about each of these virtues. The word "finally" means that from this point forward, we are to focus upon the command Paul is giving to us. The virtues are needed more than ever today since the world we live in is flaunting moral turpitude and vile behavior all around us. 

Thinking on truth is the idea of loving God's truth, speaking God's truth and being truthful.

Thinking on things that are honest means thinking about people who are honorable and wise.

Thinking on things that are just means thinking about what it means to be "in Christ" and to be declared approved and accepted by God. 

Thinking on things that are pure means thinking about those things which are pure from carnality, and are instead, chaste or modest.

Thinking on things that are lovely means thinking about things that are acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God.

Thinking on things that have a good report is thinking about the people who faithfully serve God each day and who are humble, before God and man. Biographies of Christian missionaries and church fathers would be excellent examples of this.

Thinking on things that have virtue means piety as love facing God and morality which is love facing man. 

Thinking on things that are worthy of praise is living a life that honors God and desires to hear "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 

Philippians 4:9  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. 

Paul summarizes our need to have our thoughts brought into captivity of Christ, by telling us that the apostolic truth and life lived by Paul are also examples of things we must turn out minds upon. 

This is connected with the peace of God. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

We can have the peace of God and peace with God. This is available through praying with the right attitude of thanksgiving, and not allowing worry or stress or anxiety to dominate us. 

Are we praying with a right heart?

True peace comes from knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The world offers only grief and tribulation but believers can be of good cheer because Christ overcame the world.

Do we have that wonderful peace of God calming our hearts?

The apostle Paul makes it very clear that we need to have our minds renewed by thinking differently. He spelled it out for us by giving clear instruction to "think on these things."  

What things do we think about the most? We are what we think, so we must choose to think about the things of God in order to be more like Him.

May these truths become that which we earnestly crave and seek after. May God fill our hearts with joy, renew our minds with His truth and help us stay on course through this life. 

Bob





 



 




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