Praying in Joy

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I encounter some people that really try my patience. In fact, in all honesty, they make me lose it completely. Now, I’m not one to name names…you know who you are, but in my studies the other night, Paul admonished me in Philippians 1 verse 3 to pray with joy. He said” I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Do I always pray with joy? Not on your life…but there it is, from one of the pillars of the early church….PRAY WITH JOY!!!!

Paul is telling us to begin our experience with others by remembering them and then, in our remembrance, to pray with joy. Unfortunately, it seems that I don’t always remember the good things of others …only the things that seem to make me lose my patience and too, too often, disrupt my walk with my Lord. What if I started using “spiritual eyes’ to view those that God brings into my life and as we unite in the partnership of the gospel, I won’t have to overlook their faults? Instead, I will be focused on the good work that God has begun in them and in our relationship.

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He that has begun a good work in you will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ.” That should be my focus…if I must be myopic, let my focus be on the good work that God is accomplishing in each of us. I can revel in the misery of the injustice of the moment, past or present…..or I can look at those around me and see them as God does….A WORK IN PROGRESS!!!!

And then, I can pray for them and with them in a spirit of joy and thanksgiving, knowing that God is at work, bringing to completion this person of faith …my brother or sister in Christ. And that’s the eternal partnership that is available to each of us….we belong to Christ and we belong to each other. So, let the praise and prayer begin and let the JOY of Heaven rain down.

ABUNDANTLY BLESSED…PRAYING IN JOY,
WPQ