I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
[Philippians 1:3-6 ESV]
Have you ever been at a prayer meeting which began with a huge list of prayer requests, usually related to the declining health of the church membership and including vivid descriptions of all their ailments? This list is then supplemented by items from the news which are even more depressing. If you were feeling in any way down when you hurriedly took your seat at the prayer meeting, by the time the list is complete you are feeling that life is all pointless and you utter a silent prayer that the Lord will soon return to take you away from this sad world. If you think I am being unfair, please let me continue. Of course, we need to pray intelligently and earnestly for the awful state of our world and we need to pray for those in power whether or not we agree with their politics. We also need to pray for those in poor health in our church. BUT we should be thankful and this thankfulness should dominate our prayer times together. It is important that we come before God in a spirit of worship and thankfulness. God wants us to come to Him with gratitude for what He has done for us.
Paul's gratitude in the letter to Philippians was sparked off by memories of the people who made up the church in Philippi. Wow! When people think of me, does that make them grateful to God that I have come into their lives? Or do they groan and feel uncomfortable and sad? This is a challenge today. Do I make a positive or a negative impact on other people's prayer life?
Are our prayer times in private joyful? Are our church prayer times joyful? Paul was joyful when he was praying, even though there was everything to make him depressed and downcast. This letter was written from prison and prisons were not nice places in the first century Roman Empire. He would probably have been in stocks which would have made him uncomfortable. Food was scarce and depended on someone bringing food to you. But Paul is joyful. Another challenge, then, for us in today's verses from Paul's letter to the Philippians.
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