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STUDY #5: THANKSGIVING, THE MISSING PIECE OF PEACE

Just one more part remain in our mini-series on "Praying for Presidents".   Today, we continue theme of "prayer with thanksgiving" but from a very personal and practical, viewpoint.   As before, my goal, here, is to expand our understanding of prayer to always include "thanksgiving" as we pray for "all men", and that includes you!   Yes, the phrase "all men" includes you too, regardless of gender.   In our previous study we saw how the addition of "thanksgiving" constitutes a demonstration of our faith that God is listening and will, without doubt, reward us with a response to answerable prayer. Just what that response might be, however, shall be in accord with His Will, which is spelled out in I Timothy 2:4.   Read through these verses again and see if you can find what God wants as a result of our prayers and thanksgiving for our nation's leaders.

I Timothy 2:1-4 "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."   

Did you figure it out?   Then keep your answer handy because we'll look at the same question together in the next study.   But for now, I'd like to point out that this same principle, "prayer with thanksgiving", is not only God's Will for our country and its leaders, but also, for yourself personally.   So whether you pray for yourself or for others, the element of "thanksgiving" will have a life changing effect on you too.   How?   By increasing your faith as well as by meeting your own personal needs. (See Phil. 4:19)   Remember, from our word study on page 2, that the word "supplications", which is one of the four things we are urged to do in I Tim.2:1-4, means "a heart felt petition arising out of deep personal need".   Now let's see how that applies to you personally.

PRAYING WITH THANKSGIVING FOR OUR OWN NEEDS.   As we saw in the previous study, we are commanded to give thanks in all things, including prayer, (I Thess. 5:16) because (1) it is God's will to do so (see I Thess. 5:18) AND (2) it is the key to getting answers to our petitions.   This applies to prayer for our Nation's leaders and for ourselves as well.   Wouldn't you agree, in fact, that it is our own personal needs that often drive us to our knees in the first place?   After all, don't the Scriptures themselves tell us to take our needs to Him in prayer as we go through daily life experiencing difficulties, problems and disappointments beyond our control?   But how many times have we, along with our complaints and petitions for help, actually spent time in "thanksgiving".   Not just for all the prior blessings already bestowed upon us, but also for those yet to come?   Of course, it takes a lot of FAITH to do that!   

Stop right there and take a look at what I just said!   I hope you realize that it is through the very exercise of our faith, through thanksgiving, that is grows.   Do you want more faith?   Then pray, thanking God for what He is yet to do, because this is an expression of your trust that He will give you the petitions you ask.  In short, thanksgiving is faith exercised.

But, we can talk all day about the principal of adding thanksgiving to our prayers yet there's a better way to demonstrate it.   If we agree that "a picture is worth a thousand words", then let me paint you one now, drawn from the pages of Paul's letter to the Philippians.   Remember in our second study, I mentioned how important is it to consider the effect of history and culture on a word?   Well, the same can be said for an entire book.   Let's take, for example, the little book of Philippians and view it from a historical viewpoint.   Knowing the circumstances under which it was written, is vitally important to our understanding of this idea about "praying for yourself".

Regrettably, we don't have time to acquaint ourselves in depth with this little letter to the Philippian church, but I do want to point out a couple of facts about it.   Keep in mind that the book of Philippians was originally a letter, written by the Apostle Paul to the congregation of a local church in the town of Philippi, the ruins of which lie today in the south of Greece.   Paul was imprisoned in Rome at the time of this writing, but, from outside contacts, he had learned that serious problems had arisen among the believers in the Philippian church.   As it turned out, the congregation was deeply divided and the testimony of this group of believers had been seriously compromised simply because two women, and their factious following, would not get along. The consequences of this disunity had taken a severe toll on the spirituality of the congregation and the effectiveness of its testimony in the community. The problem had become so pervasive, that it had also affected the ability of believers to work and worship together.   The situation had aroused grave concern among the church leadership to the extent that many were deeply worried and anxious about the disunity and its consequences.   The worry and concern had begun to affect their personal lives too, so Paul's intervention, by means of this letter, was welcomed with a sigh of relief.  

The letter, in general, was a call to unity but in Chapter 4, Paul directly addresses the problem of worry and anxiety.   Notice, first of all, that he directly addresses the parties involved, pleading with them to be of the same mind in the Lord. (see Phil. 4:2) "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. "   Then he moves on to include the entire congregation, detailing steps to take in order to avoid the awful consequences caused by the strife and antagonism.   

I can easily image how stressful it might have been to have visited that congregation in the midst of their petty bickering.   Everyone would have been tense, guarded, fearful and perhaps even hateful toward one another.   Sensing their anxiety and concern, Paul, first calls for unity and then, surprisingly, charges them to "rejoice".   What a ridiculous thing to say!   Why in the world would anyone in that church feel like rejoicing after going through such strife and emotional trauma?   But this act of "rejoicing" was so critical in this situation, that Paul turns right around and says the same thing again: "Rejoice", he says, "and again I say rejoice" (verse 4).

Well, this brings us to yet another opportunity to share a bit of psychological insight with you about the topic of "feelings" or "emotions" in the Christian life.   Does God, somehow, expect us to magically change our feeling from one emotion to another with a mere act of the will?   That's what seems to be happening here as Paul emphatically tells these disgruntled believers to "rejoice".   

As already mentioned, these verses have personal and practical significance to you since stress, worry and anxiety are issues we all have to deal with from time to time.   Whether it be caused by friction at church, as in the case at Philippi, the hectic demands of a Christmas season or some very personal problem of our own, worry and anxiety can rob us of those vital gifts of the Holy Spirit, including love, joy, peace and patience (Gal. 5:22-23)   For some years now, we've all seen an epidemic of stress related disorders appear in our country including depression, insomnia and somatic illness along with behavioral consequences such as violence, suicide, spousal abuse, etc.   Now, there's no reason to think that those believers at Philippi were on the verge of violence but the anxiety and worry, occasioned by the disunity, had certainly taken a severe toll on their spiritual lives.   Sadly, most of the congregation had long since lost their joy in the Lord along with that most cherished of all gifts: the peace of mind and heart that only God can provide.

With this in mind, Paul now addresses the entire congregation and, after enjoining them to "rejoice", he comes right out and tells them" "Do not be anxious about anything".   There it is again, Paul expecting us to just throw a switch in our brains and shut worry off like a spigot.   Well, if you took the time to read the above link, you'll realize that God never commands our emotions, only our minds.   So if we read the rest of verse 6, we shall, once again, find our old familiar formula, "prayer with thanksgiving" as a remedy for "worry".   Let's look at both the command and the consequence of obeying that command.

Verse 6 is the command:   "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. "

Verse 7 is the consequence of obeying the command:  "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (See Peace of God)

So the key concept, simply put, is that all prayer, whether intercessory, personal or on behalf of others, must include the act of thanksgiving.   Now, although those words were addressed to a group of believers half way around the world almost two thousand years, they are just as applicable today as they were back then.   So if you, or someone you know, has lost that wonderful, deep down awareness of peace, security and tranquility that comes from God's Holy Spirit, it can be experienced once again by following these three steps:

1. Rejoice in the Lord.... this does not mean that we should go around with a cheerful disposition, rather it is the willful act of expressing appreciation, gratitude and acknowledgment of God's blessing, love and care.... by faith. In other words, "rejoicing" is counting your blessings and naming them one by one in acknowledgment of what God has already done.

2. Ask God for His peace to posses your heart (emotions) and your mind (thoughts)

3, Thank Him, in advance as you trust (faith) Him for the answer.

Then, and only then, will you experience, both in your mind and your heart, the peace of God that defies intellectual understanding.   However, at this point, I must caution you, that once experienced, our ability to continue in that peace, day after day, requires a further step. Looking at the full context of this passage in Chapter 4, we discover that, after those initial words promising the peace of God, comes a further word on how to keep it.

Verses 8-9: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable; if anything is excellent or praiseworthy; think about such things. (9) Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me; put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

What a great passage to take away from this study!   Once our hearts and minds have experienced the joy and tranquility of God's Peace, it falls on us to:

1. Keep our thoughts focused on things that are true, honest, just etc. This practice is something we can do daily by making conscious choices about where we look, what we read, what we listen to, who we associate with, what we watch on TV, etc.

2. All that we have learned in the Scriptures, whether it be at church, in a Bible study like this or just reading your Bible alone, we must continue to practice.   I like the way Paul puts it in verse 9, "Just do it!" And as we put into action, all those Scriptural truths we have learned, look at what happens: then the God of peace will be with you.

So today, right now, if you've lost that sense of deep peace and joy that is promised by God's Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22-23) it's yours for the asking... as long as you ask with the faith of thanksgiving.   Then, tomorrow and all the days thereafter, continue to put into action, all those spiritual truths you've learned over the years... and the presence of God's Spirit will continue to bless you with a peace that passes understanding.

We're near the end of our series, with only one more study left. Look for the title "Making God Smile" and enjoy the conclusion of my story about Peru.

LESSON 6: