“Rejoicing in Prayer”

This is the third week of our series on prayer. So far, we have considered the offer of glory and admiration to our Lord in prayer, we have offered him our confession, our admission, of the sin in our life and our repentance of those ways, and today, we consider the need to let God know just how thankful we are for all that he is and does in our lives.

Romans 12 give us an idea as to how deep this thanksgiving should be.

Read Romans 12:11-14

Zeal and fervor mean that we are to be passionate, eager, and dedicated in our relationship with Christ. We are to celebrate – not only what we have received, but the hope that we have, as we patiently and faithfully wait for all that the Lord is going to bring.
But the joy we experience in a life with Jesus isn’t meant to be ours alone – it is to be shared with others. It is for those who are struggling in life; it is for those who need to feel welcomed in their lives; it is even for those who oppose us, who hate us and all that we believe, who do everything that they can to hurt us.
And our passion for Christ can never lead us to harm anyone who has chosen a different path in this life. We are to love the saint and sinner equally.

Read Luke 6:22-23

In his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-45), Jesus told the crowd “43You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons (and daughters) of your Father in heaven.”
Showing love in the face of hatred will be just about the hardest thing that any of us will ever be called do, but we must remember that the animosity of the world is not actually against us – it is directed at Jesus. When Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus, He heard “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:1-4) Paul was on his way to arrest and torture and kill as many followers of The Way as he could, but not because he hated them so much – it was because he didn’t understand the message of Jesus, and hated the Lord out of ignorance.

And our response to persecution, what should it be like? JOYFUL! Not because of the persecution itself, but because it means that we have become worthy of the same worldly hatred that Jesus endured. And it won’t be just some momentary thrill – it’s a “jumping up and down”, a “falling over backward”, a “turning inside out” kind of joy! It will be overwhelming, because we know that this hatred is not for us – we receive it in honor of the very message of salvation that we carry, the very message of salvation that we have accepted.
And never think that the attack against us is unique – it has been directed against the faithful for thousands of years.

Read 2 Corinthians 13:9

Paul is reflecting on the contradictions between what the world perceives in us, versus that which the Lord has inspired in us.
In verse 7, he mentions that the world may see us as failures, which we certainly are by their standards, when the truth of the matter is, that by the grace of God, we are doing exactly what divine perfection would ask of us.
In 1 Corinthians 1:25 he uses another comparison, when he writes “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” God is neither foolish nor weak, and we are neither wise nor strong, but that is the world view of the Creator and his created, and we know that the truth of God and his creation is totally different.
And here, he uses that reverse analogy to remind us that when we weaken our own will, and surrender to the Lord’s way, our weakness is turned into a strength and resolve that defies understanding.

But we must remember the comparison – that it is through our surrender, through our admission of personal weakness, that God can begin to work his powerful ways within us. Our joy isn’t in our becoming mighty disciples of the Living God, but that the Lord of creation has a desire to work his ways, for the benefit of earth, through us. We serve him as servants, but he treats us as his beloved children. And that is a comparison that is worth rejoicing over!

Read Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice again, and again, and again! Rejoice with your whole heart, with the full depth of your soul, with the hope of Christ overflowing, with a vision of heaven and glory planted firmly in your entire being. But rejoice in gentleness, and never in arrogance or condescension or pride, because it is ours, simply because our Lord Jesus Christ is our Living and Loving God!

Isn’t that sufficient reason to rejoice? But what does Paul tell us about our reasons to pray? He is addressing these words of encouragement to individuals as well as a church, who have allowed issues of life to cause division in their lives. And as we all know from experience, if divisiveness is allow to continue and grow without addressing the underlying cause, it will, eventually, break us. The apostle wants them, and us, to refocus our lives, that we should all start remembering what it was that had once brought us together, and how the things that unite are so much more important than the things that divide.

But on our own, it is nearly impossible to refocus our thoughts, to set the things that hurt us aside and to let the joys of Christ rise to the surface of our hearts and minds. But Paul says that it is the peace of Christ that can. We must begin to concentrate on Jesus and on all that he taught us, and all that we can truly be thankful for. And that will become the beginning of healing for our earthly relationships. And this healing is also a reason for great rejoicing.

And Christ’s healing will lead to a generosity of heart, to consideration of the needs of others, to our willingness to allow God’s way to begin working within us. We don’t understand it, but then we don’t need to understand – God’s ways are seldom recognized by humanity, but we can become familiar with the results of his way. We don’t always see his work in action, but we can feel his work within us. And when the Spirit is allowed to work, thanksgiving will naturally rise up to overflowing.

And our apostle gives the church at Philippi a list of emotions to focus their lives on, but I believe that this is also a list of Christian attributes that we should be thankful for. Think about them for a moment:
Truth – God’s truth will never fail us.
Nobility – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords reigns, and his greatest wish is that he could reign supreme in the lives of all people.
Righteousness – the virtue, the justice, the glory of Christ can become ours simply through faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
Purity – there is nothing that is corrupt or sinful or self-serving in following the truth of Jesus Christ.
Loveliness – beauty is all around us, but the exquisite splendor of God will exceed anything else that we will ever know.
Admirable – God alone is worthy, but by faith in Jesus, we take on the splendor that can only come from him.
Excellence – brilliance, superiority, distinction are perfect and unique in our Lord, and he uses them all for our benefit.
Praiseworthy – he is truly worthy of our praise and thanksgiving.

We must put this holy list into practice every time we offer our praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.

Pray with me –
Holy Lord God, there is none like you. Your power and majesty astound us, and we rejoice that your grace lives within us. You are all we can possibly hope for, and by faith in the Lord Jesus, our life has grown in ways that we never imagined could be. We praise you Lord for being our King and our friend; we rejoice in you Lord, for the purity of thought and the truth of your way that we have learned from your word; we give you our eternal thanks for the life and the salvation that you gained through the surrender of your body; we rejoice in the love that you have shown to the people of earth, and for the love that we can offer to others through faith and love of you.
For all that you give, and all that we gain, and all that can be if we simply follow and celebrate our life in you, we give you our adoration and gratitude today and all days. In Jesus Christ we live and thrive and love. Amen.