Day 15: Praying Church

Daily Devotional

Philippians 4:6-7

6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

We live in a world where there are plenty of reasons to be anxious and most times it’s because of factors out of our control. Although the causes of anxiety may be out of our control, Apostle Paul believes we are able to have control over our emotions if we deal with them by prayer. In today’s passage, Paul gives us practical instruction on how we can pray to fight anxiety. First, Paul tells us to present “every situation” no matter how big or small it is to God because prayer increases our faith to believe that God is able to help us, but He also wants to help us. Second, pray (communicate) to God about the things that make you anxious through petitioning, which means to make a request. Lastly, Paul instructs us to prayerfully petition with thankfulness because God will always answer our prayers in a way that’s best for us. If God answers exactly what we prayed for we thank Him. At the same time, if God answers us in a different way, we still thank Him trusting He knows what’s best for us. When we do this, Paul says the peace of God that transcends all understanding will come to replace your fears because you are surrendering it into God’s hands. Today, let us choose to fight against the worries that burden you by praying prayers of petition to God with thanksgiving believing God will answer them according to His perfect and pleasing will.

Weekly Application

Make a decision to set aside time each day that is dedicated to prayer. Let us pray that the time we spend praying may not just be out of duty, but a life-giving time of fellowship with God. Lift up your requests and confess your sins before God with the assurance of forgiveness. Intercede for your leaders, your church, and your community - standing in the gap for those who are in need. And invite Jesus to be in the midst of your circumstances with the expectation of supernatural joy and thanksgiving. Let us experience the power and the presence of God in our lives as we seek to become a praying church.