Pray about Everything
Philippians 4: 1-9
Ginny Spring - UMW Sunday
[Note that we do not clean up formatting when we post our sermons. They are pasted in simply as they appear for the most part.]
Paul wrote to his followers
in Philippi: Do not worry about anything; let your requests be made known to
God in everything by prayer.
In other words: Do not worry about anything;
pray about everything!
Words that are easy to say. Much harder to carry out.
Let’s consider what we, as
individuals, worry about. What keeps you
awake at night?
There are a wealth of problems that come to my
mind:
a test at school; a health concern; a broken family relationship;
a bullying situation; a job loss
a child’s
recalcitrant behavior
a domestic violence situation
How do we react to
worries…..?
Whether we are a young adult,
teen, or older person, do we
: keep our anxieties within ourselves:
always in our thoughts;
letting them hang
like a gray cloud in our day; letting them erode our spirits and perhaps eventually
affect our bodies?
: talk about them to others
: not expecting a solution; just
wanting to unload; or
: in hopes of finding a way to resolve the situation?
Psychologists tell us that one of the
more healthy approaches is
to simply spell out what is disturbing
us.
By clarifying what it is, we
may already be relieving some stress.
By writing down our
concern, perhaps we will see what it is
that we should be doing differently; or we may realize that we have little
control over the situation.
And then there is Paul’s
approach: pray about everything…offer it to the Lord in supplication. If you are at all inclined to talk about your
worries to a friend, a teammate, or a relative, Paul is suggesting that we talk
about them with the God Who loves us!
God Who has always loved each one of us
is often hungry to be more involved in our lives. We give thanks for the start of a new day and
thanks at mealtime. On Sunday each week
we gather in shared worship and praise.
Here is an opportunity to engage Him more fully in our lives.
By telling God how helpless we find ourselves, we are in conversation with God.
We are NOT praying for divine intercession…
:expecting God to intervene and
rescue us from our troubles;
:expecting God to take away the problem.
We are praying : to ask for the grace to adjust
our attitude;
: to ask for the grace to accept what we
cannot change;
: to acknowledge that we cannot do this
alone and need His inspiration and support.
Our Affirmation of Faith
states: “We are not alone…God is with
us.”
Young Pastor Emily reminded
us: “God doesn’t need my words, to know my heart.”
Would just sitting still and being silent open our hearts to the Holy
Spirit and help us feel God’s Presence?
Paul’s letter to the
followers of Jesus in Philippi from which we read a passage today was written
about thirty years after the death and
resurrection of Jesus. You may already
know that Philippi was a city on the northeast coast of modern day Greece. Paul urges these early believers to help
each other on their spiritual journey.
Two spiritual leaders shared
the desire to spread the good news of Christ’s way of living, but perhaps they were at odds about some
detail.
If there were indeed such a
difference of opinion, their falling-out might be affecting the unity of the
Christian community at Philippi. Paul
wrote to all of his followers there and urged them not to be worried by such
divisions, but instead, help the two members reconcile their differences. Their names were Euodia and Syntynche.
This week I went online and
was able to find a u-tube clip of these same women. It was
a conversation they shared years later in their lives. Let’s listen in….
SYNTCHE: Euodia, it is so relaxing to sit with you
here outdoors in the afternoon. I always look forward to chatting with you.
EUODIA: Yes, we’ve been friends for years , ever
since our children were youngsters. Now they all have their own growing families.
SYNTYCHE: Of course, there was that stretch of
time when we weren’t even talking to
one another.
I
remember being very upset with you then but to tell you the truth, I can’t even recall what the reason
was!!
EUODIA: It’s ironic, isn’t it? Here we are such close friends but years ago
we did have our
differences. What I recall is your propensity to worry about change.
SYNTYCHE: Change?
EUODIA: Things were looking promising for our faith community . Clement and the
others were working hard teaching what
“following Jesus” actually meant.
Most of us enjoyed welcoming
other people to hear Clement preach
and to our prayer services. You, on the other hand, became more and more reluctant
to open your heart to people from different backgrounds.
SYNTYCHE: I probably didn’t feel comfortable with them.
EUODIA:
That could well have been true, Syntiche. Eventually your attitude made many of us feel uncomfortable. I wondered how you were going to understand people of different
lifestyles if you did not even want to spend
time with them! Let alone, worship with them!
SYNTYCHE: Then when Paul wrote from prison in Rome, he
reminded us to focus on the things
that were good and righteous in other people.
All other people. (Turning to look at her friend) You really
helped me work through that, Euodia.
EUODIA: (smiling broadly) And do you remember our friend, Margaret?
She insisted:
:
If we could find only the good in those whom we consider
different,
we would be unstoppable
Christ followers!
Your attitude changed
completely.
After
that, you kept in mind that God loves every one of us.
But then you were
exasperated with me when I refused to be baptized.
SYNTYCHE: That’s right… you felt it would be enough for
a person to say in public
that she believed that Jesus was the Son of God. Everyone else believed we should be immersed in the river, as Jesus was with
John the Baptizer.
EUODIA: I was afraid of the water! I had never gone in such deep water, whether it was a lake or a river! I did not think that God would want
me to do such a thing!
SYNTYCHE: You really became quite outspoken and
defiant, Euodia.
EUODIA: Yes, and there were a lot of other people
that agreed with me.
It became quite a group.
SYNTYCHE: But we prayed about that together. We talked about your anxiety.
We asked God to give you the courage
to get over your fear,
to let the rest of us help you. We were right there beside you.
EUODIA: Paul had urged us to not worry about
anything, but instead pray about
everything. (Laughing together) Well, we sure did that!
Of course, we have no idea of
their actual difference of opinion, but
through all the centuries,
there have been divergent views about aspects of the direction of the
church. What held true then, as it does
now, is that we as followers of Christ are called to open discussion and
respectful hearing of views that differ from our own. The
lesson for us is that they
turned to prayer.
If reconciliation is true of church community,
it is also true of families…and other social groups that we are take part
in.
Rather than division, Paul
urges us to focus on the things that are decent, admirable and worthy of praise
in people. Paul was interested in
attracting followers to Jesus’ way. He
wanted the congregation to be filled with joy and to be known for their joy in
the Lord.
Just as in the first century, we as present-day
Christians should
keep in mind how our behaviors and words impress or do
not impress
people of other faiths and people who have no religious
affiliation. They
know we are Christians.
We need to be sure to share our joy!
Let’s let others know the empowerment and inspiration
found in prayer.
Let’s avail ourselves more frequently of the
transforming power of prayer.
Our mission statement reads
that we are called to nurture people in their spiritual journey. This may happen:
: by becoming aware that someone else is anxious or
hurting;
: by being ready to take the time to listen to their
concerns;
: by being willing to take the time to walk with them
during the rough spots
of their life.
If you are sharing in
confidence a deep concern with another person, may I suggest two methods of
prayer that might be helpful.
a) The 1-2-3 plan. This is not a get-rich plan; it is a
spiritually enriching plan. This is when you propose that, no matter where you
are in your day, both of you will pray
:for one purpose, for two minutes, at three
o’clock each day.
One/two/three.
If three o’clock is not a
realistic timeframe, make it a one/two/ten plan. Whatever hour is realistic for you and this
relative, friend or co-worker.
The important thing here is
that the other person knows that someone is praying with them.
By
stopping your routine; freeing your mind of distractions, being focused in
prayer about the concern, you are enriching your own spiritual life.
Perhaps those few minutes would serve as a
freeing time to lift the burden and feel His Presence.
b) Secondly, if one of you prefers a formal
prayer, may I propose reciting the
Serenity Prayer together:
Lord, grant me: the courage to change those
things that can be changed;
: the
grace to accept those things that cannot be changed; and
: the
wisdom to know the difference.
In closing, let’s try doing
what Paul urged the early Christians to do:
: engage God in all aspects of our lives:
pray about everything
letting the Spirit of God uplift us;
: help those around us deal with the struggles of their
journey;
: bring more joy to our own lives and to the lives of
others by giving the
gift of prayer.
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