Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Advent readings, Day18 - Philippians 4: 4-7

Philippians 4: 4-7  Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Paul suggests that the Philippians pray instead of worry.  We often pray intercessory prayers that connect with our concerns of the wolrd and our lives.  How do we lift up those prayers without letting those thoughts drag us down into worry?  Because Paul believes that God "could show up any minute" and because he believes that everything will come together for good, he prays with confidence.  For Paul, the process of prayer that praises God and lays claim to what God will do allows him not to worry, or at least helps him shift worry to prayer.

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