peace that transcends all understanding

APRIL 24 – PHILIPPIANS 4: 4-8

REJOICE IN THE LORD

If anybody had an excuse for worrying, it was the Apostle Paul. His beloved Christian friends at Philippi were disagreeing with one another, and he was not there to help them. We have no idea what Euodia and Syntyche were disputing about, but whatever it was, it was bringing division into the church. Paul does not write, “Pray about it!” He is too wise to do that. He uses three different words to describe “right praying”: prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. “Right praying” involves all three.

Whenever we find ourselves worrying, our first action ought to be to get alone with God and worship Him. Adoration is what is needed. We must see the greatness and majesty of God! We must realize that He is big enough to solve our problems. Too often we rush into His presence and hastily tell Him our needs when we ought to approach His throne calmly and in deepest reverence. The first step in “right praying” is adoration. The second is supplication, an earnest sharing of our needs and problems. After adoration and supplication comes appreciation, giving thanks to God (see Eph. 5:20; Col. 3:15–17).

We are prone to pray about the “big things” in life and forget to pray about the so-called “little things”—until they grow and become big things! Talking to God about everything that concerns us and Him is the first step toward victory over worry. The result is that the “peace of God” guards the heart and the mind.

Peace involves the heart and the mind. “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You” (Isa. 26:3). Wrong thinking leads to wrong feeling, and before long the heart and mind are pulled apart and we are strangled by worry. We must realize those thoughts are real and powerful, even though they cannot be seen, weighed, or measured. We must bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

Read More »April 22 – Philippians 4:4-8 Devotional – Rejoice in the Lord