Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6, 7
Yesterday’s devotional explored the practice of asking and giving thanks even before we receive what we have asked for. The first time I heard of this manner of praying was when I read about it in the book The ABC’s of Bible Prayer by Glen Coon. I was fascinated. The example he used was the one I mentioned in yesterday’s devotional (John 11:41) when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. (If you would like to take your prayer life to another level, I recommend you read this book.)
As we bring this week to a close we want to end on a note of Thanksgiving by talking about one of the most valuable benefits of praying with thanksgiving: having a peace that surpasses our understanding! A feeling of peacefulness even if there is no apparent reason to be experiencing peace; even when there is every reason why we should not be feeling peaceful.
Have you experienced that kind of peace? The only time I believe people can truly say they have experienced such a peace is when it is “no longer I but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). The me with all my fears must die, before Christ can move in and bring His peace to take over. And it does not have to be all of a sudden, it comes as we grow in Christ.
I believe this is what Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church must have felt that enabled him to cry out even when he was facing death by stoning: ” ‘ “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ‘ . . . . “Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘ “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” ‘ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:56, 60).
That was Christ in Stephen. Christ had entered with a peace that Stephen could not understand. It is “not [the kind of peace] that the world gives” (John 14:27). We can only experience it by His grace when we learn to pray with thanksgiving. Thanking Him before the answer comes. Either because we know that what we have asked for has been granted, or because no matter what the outcome, we know that it will be “well with [our] soul.”
Let us practice praying with thanksgiving saints! That kind of prayer changes things – in us as well as in our world!