Prayerful not Fearful

The Bible says in Philippians 4:6 LITV, ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and by petition with thanksgivings, let your requests be made known to God.’

What are we to pray? The Bible says, ‘by prayer and by petition.’  Petition can be defined as praying to God about something specific in Christ Jesus. The Lord God commands His people for their good for specific prayers to be made known to Him. When it says, ‘known to Him’, it does not mean God does not know, and we must inform Him, so He can know—obviously it does not mean that.

The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6:8 LITV, ‘Then do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him.’ What the Bible is saying in Philippians, the Father wants to hear these things from His people—He wants to know them from them. God wants us to depend on Him, recognizing He is our God, our Heavenly Father, who provides our every need, every time. Everything we have which is good, has come from the Lord’s hands—We receive nothing good, unless it is by the will of God, and from His good hand. We are to rely on Him. Of course, God uses means, absolutely, but as we live for Him according to the Word of God, we are not to be anxious, but come to our Lord and trust Him, stand on His word, and have peace in Christ.

Notice Paul wrote, ‘Let your requests be made known to God.’ What does Paul the apostle mean? The word, ‘request’, refers to the specific details of the petition. In our prayers, we bring our petitions to God—His people are to pray a specific thing to God, and then pray about the details of that specific thing—the specific details about that petition.

For example, Let us go Ephesians 1:16-23, and we can see Paul do exactly this. Paul the apostle prays, v. 16 LITV, ‘I also do not cease giving thanks on your behalf, making mention of you in my prayers’, then we see his petition, a specific prayer in v. 17,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him,

Then we see the request, the details of the petition, v. 18, ‘the eyes of your mind having been enlightened, for you to know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints’, and he continues after v. 18. This is how we are to pray—commanded by the Lord in Philippians 4.

Now, there is another aspect of prayer, and that is thanksgivings. Very important aspect of prayer. Notice what Paul wrote, ‘but in everything by prayer and petitions with thanksgivings, let you request be made known to God.’ This is an expression of thanks or gratitude for all the things the Lord has done for us and is doing. It is thankfulness from the heart for His mercy and grace to us in Christ Jesus. The Greek word holds thanksgiving in the upmost importance. This thankfulness will guard our hearts from whining and complaining before the Lord. All that we have comes from the Lord, we do not deserve anything, but because of His love for us, He has given to us the greatest and most precious gift of all, the Lord Jesus Christ. His people would have to admit, there is always something to give thanks to God for, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, and all we have received in Him. We are to give thanks to God, because without the mercy and grace of God, we would not have Christ. His people are to be thankful to God in Christ Jesus, for all our spiritual and temporal blessings.

Another scripture, we see that it is God will for us to be thankful to Him in Christ Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5:18 LITV, ‘In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.’ Notice the apostle Paul wrote, ‘in everything give thanks.’ God is always good to His people—in everything in Christ Jesus. God is good to His people not only in good times, but God is good to them in hard times; God is good to them in everything. God is good to His people.

Paul the apostle when he wrote Ephesians was in bonds, but he had a thankful heart and grateful heart. His people are not to forget to be thankful in all things, because our God is always good to us in all things. Every good thing is from God, and without Him, we would not even be here. It is God’s will that we (His people) find joy in prayer in Christ Jesus in every condition of life, with a grateful heart.

Also notice, when Paul wrote, ‘be made known to God.’ We are only to pray to God, and no other. To pray to any other except to God is a despicable sin. If a brother and/or sister is praying for you to God, no problem, because they are still praying to God, and we saw Paul doing that in Ephesians, but we are never to pray to anyone else except God—we are only to pray to the true and living God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Lord is commanding His people here in Philippians 4, to let Him know our petitions and requests, with thanksgivings to Him. This command is in the present tense, which means this command is always present—we are to keep praying to Him and not lose heart, for the Bible says in 1Thessalonians 5:17 LITV, ‘Pray without ceasing.’ Prayer is a conversation, it is how we speak to our God in Christ, who hears us perfectly, knows us perfectly, understands us perfectly, cares for us perfectly, and responds to us perfectly, knowing what is best for us perfectly. If we pray according to His will, He will do it, but if not, we can know, He knows what is best for us perfectly, and He can be fully trusted in all things, for He is perfect—God is always faithful to His Word. God is perfect in all His ways—He is our sovereign God. There is no other like our Lord, for He is the one true living God.

Let us finish these two scriptures about the prayers of His people:

Proverbs 15:8 LITV, ‘The sacrifice of the wicked is a hateful thing to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.’

1Peter 3:12 LITV, ‘because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against any doing evil things.’

The Storms of Life

Let us look in Mark 6, from v. 45, when Jesus walked on the water. The Lord Jesus had just fed the five thousand men, plus women and children—so probably maybe closer to twenty thousand— with five loaves of bread and two fish. There was a big crowd. Many people there.

And in v. 45 LITV, the Bible says 'And at once He constrained His disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before to the other side, to Bethsaida, until He should dismiss the crowd.'

Jesus was going to send the people away, and Jesus made His disciples to get into a boat, to sail across the Sea of Galilee to the other side, and Jesus went into the mountain to pray. The Bible says, 'And taking leave of them, He went away to the mountain to pray.' (v. 46 LITV)

Then it carries on to say that the boat was in the midst of the sea when Jesus was still on land, and the disciples were distressed in the rowing, for the wind was against them; they were in the middle of a storm, and the sea was high. The Bible says in v. 46-48 LITV,  

And taking leave of them, He went away to the mountain to pray. And it becoming evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He alone on the land. And He saw them being distressed in the rowing, for the wind was contrary to them. And it was about the fourth watch of the night when He came toward them, walking on the sea. And He willed to go by them. 

So we see that the Lord Jesus told them to go over the Sea of Galilee, and while the disciples sailed across, they got caught up in a storm, and struggled to row the boat. They had to face a storm, and it was not a very nice storm. The disciples were facing a storm which was against them, and must have seemed like to the disciples that the storm was pulling them under. 

Firstly, that shows us (as Christians) a truth here. We as Christians are not immune to the storms of life.  The Redeemed can go through the storms of life, and not because of the consequences of sin. The disciples were obedient to the Lord, being in the will of God. They were in the place where the Lord Jesus clearly put them. Jesus told them to sail over the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus was not caught off guard by the storm. He knew the storm was coming, and His disciples would be in the middle of this storm. Amen.

Now, there can be times when we (Christians) are in a storm because of the consequences of sin, and this is clearly seen in the Bible. What about Jonah, when he went through a storm because he disobeyed God. Jonah attempted to run from God, being out of the will of God, being in the wrong place, and he faced and went through a storm, being swallowed by a great fish. He was there for being out of the will of God. Jonah found himself going through this time of adversity. 

But here in Mark 6, they were facing the storm not because of sin, but because they were obeying the Lord; they were in the right place, being in the will of God. The same for us in our Christian life, we can face adversity (the storms of life) when we are obeying the Lord, doing the will of God, being in the right place, the place where God wants us to be. Amen. Another example from the Bible would be Paul the apostle, when he was in the Philippian prison, Paul was in the will of God, he was in the place where God wanted him to be, doing the will of God, but going through a time of adversity.  

What is the reason for this? The reason is the Lord Jesus Christ is working on his people. The Bible says in Romans 8:28 LITV, 'But we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose.'

Then in the next verse it tells us the purpose—to be conformed to the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is spiritually enlarging us in Christ Jesus, conforming us to His image.

Yes, we can grow in the light times, when the storm is calm, but there are certain things which can only be discovered in the dark (the storms of life). There are things in the storms of life we will discover, enlarging us spiritually. It is not because God does not love us, it is because He does love us, and it is not because God does not care, it is because God does care for us. These times will strengthen us in the Lord. The Lord loves us too much to allow us to remain still, but He is making His people more like the Lord Jesus Christ, in our words, thoughts and deeds, and in that, Jesus our Lord is glorified. God is glorified.  Amen. 

Again in v. 46-48 LITV, the Bible says,  

And taking leave of them, He went away to the mountain to pray. And it becoming evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He alone on the land. And He saw them being distressed in the rowing, for the wind was contrary to them. And it was about the fourth watch of the night when He came toward them, walking on the sea. And He willed to go by them. 

The Lord Jesus, as we have discovered, put His disciples into the middle of the storm, and Jesus had a purpose for doing what He did. Now we will see what Jesus was doing for them while they were in the storm. While they were in a storm, the Lord Jesus was interceding for them on the mountain. The Lord Jesus was watching and interceding for them. When the Lord Jesus puts His people into a storm, He will never leave His people, nor forsake them, just like we see here with His disciples. So the second thing we see—Jesus was interceding for them.

Thirdly, Jesus had His eyes upon them. Notice what it says in v. 48 LITV, the Bible says, 'And He saw them being distressed in the rowing, for the wind was contrary to them.'  The Lord Jesus saw them being distressed in the rowing, for He could see them, but they could not see the Lord Jesus. When believers in the Lord Jesus are going through the storms of life, when adversity comes, the Lord Jesus always has His eyes upon them. He loves His people, and cares for His people, and will always provide for His people when they are going through a storm. The Lord Jesus Christ never leaves nor forsakes His people, for His people are His redeemed, and always will be. 

We also see here that Jesus intercedes for His people. Understand that Jesus intercedes for them who are His. He interceded for His people here, and the Lord Jesus intercedes for all His people (Christians), wherever they may be on this earth. The Bible says in Hebrews 7:25 LITV, ' From this also He is able to save to perfection those who come to God through Him, ever living to intercede on their behalf.'

If you are a believer, be blessed to understand and to know, that every Christian has the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ before the Father in Heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ represents His people before the Father. We need His intercessory work. The intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ is based on His finished work; His death, burial and resurrection. The very reason His people will endure to the end, and reach the shores of eternity, just like His followers reached the shore here, is because the Lord Jesus Christ intercedes for us, based on His finished work for our salvation. The Lord Jesus can never, and will never fail in His intercessory work.

So not only does the Lord Jesus put us (Christians) in the storms of life at times, to conform us (His people) to His image, the Lord Jesus has His eyes upon us, intercedes for us, providing for us, whatever we go through, even when we fail Him, He will not fail us in His intercessory work—just like we see with Peter when he failed the Lord Jesus when he denied the Lord Jesus Christ—for the Bible says that Jesus prayed for him, knowing that Peter would fall, praying for Peter to come back up again, which Peter did, and was used by the Lord in a great way, and Peter was kept by the Lord until the end. Thank the Lord for His intercession before the throne in Heaven. 

Lastly, we see that Jesus came to them. We have already seen that Jesus was with them all the way, His eyes were upon them, and He was interceding for them, and then we can also see the Lord Jesus Christ came to them at the perfect time, and He calmed the storm. The Bible says in v. 48 LITV, 'And it was about the fourth watch of the night when He came toward them, walking on the sea. And He willed to go by them.' Jesus came to them. In v.51a LITV the Bible says, 'And He went up to them into the boat, and the wind was cut off.' The same for all His people, He will come to us at the right time (never too late, never too early) and He will calm the storm, and get us through to the other side. He is a faithful God. He is faithful to His Word. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can trust Him whatever may come. Let us trust Him whatever we face, whether prosperity or adversity, we can trust our Lord because He is the one true God, who is the God of truth, and His Word is truth. Let us trust Him—Let us stand on His Word. 

Notice what the Lord Jesus says to them. He says in v. 50, 'For all saw Him, and were troubled. And immediately He spoke to them and said to them, Have courage. I AM! Do not fear.' Notice Jesus said to His disciples, 'Do not fear.' When we go through the storms of life, God wants us to experience His peace which has been given to His people in Christ, and not be fearful. Notice what Jesus said in this same verse, 'Have courage. I AM! Do not fear.' Let us not be fearful when we go through the storms of life, for we serve the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the I AM.  We belong to Him. The Lord Jesus Christ can always be trusted in all things. The Lord Jesus has already given to His people the greatest gift of all, Himself. We serve a faithful God. Always remember, even when things do not go the way we would like them to go, or our prayer is not answered the way we asked, God can always be trusted, because He is faithful to His Word, and He will always do the right thing, just like we have seen here in Mark 6. Amen.

I will finish with this scripture in Isaiah 51:10 LITV, 

Who among you fears Jehovah, obeying the voice of His servant, who walks in darkness, and no light is in him? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and lean on his God. 

Christian Prayer (Giving Thanks)

Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1Thessalonians 5:17-18kjv)

All through scripture we notice that giving thanks to our Lord in everything is very important, not just when things are going well, but even through hard times. God is not only good to us in easy times, but he is good to us when we go through darkness. Think about what the Lord has done for you through the difficult times, how faithful He has been to His Word, loving you (a Christian) perfectly as your Father. Never doubt God's love for you because God has already given us the most precious gift of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, which we should give thanks to God continually. Our God is always faithful and true, so continue and do not cease to give Him thanks.