Beach Prayers

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Philippians 4:4 (ESV) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.

What it is speaking to me

I recently was at the beach. No, this devotional is not a test of jealousy for my beach friends. But I have to say, the beach was pretty great. It was pretty easy to take in the views, the ocean and waves, the sand, and rejoice in God's creation, His provision for me and my family while soaking up the sun. I could wake up, go out onto the porch, stretch, and say "Rejoice in the Lord always!" Easy.

Paul was also on a beach vacation when he wrote his letter to the church in Philippi.

Wait, no. He wasn't. He wrote "Rejoice in the Lord always" from a prison cell. Puts a different weight on his direction, doesn't it? He was talking about a rejoicing that has nothing to do with our vacation status. Or even the status of our freedom.

Could it be there is prayer power in rejoicing? Usually we connect verses 6 and 7 together, about not being anxious and praying, and then we get that "peace that surpasses all understanding," which is what we all want. But Paul's train of thought actually begins at verse 4: rejoicing. The rejoicing is what informs the praying. You see that word "thanksgiving" in verse 6? That's tied to rejoicing too.

There is no doubt that prison leads to prayer. All sorts of unfortunate things happen in our lives that lead us to prayer. Serious prayer.

But serious prayer doesn't have to mean sad prayer.

In fact, the kind of powerful prayers Paul's talking about, the kind that lead to the peace we all want, is laced throughout with thanksgiving and rejoicing.

So don't let the beach OR the prison determine the spirit of your prayers today. Again I say, rejoice!

What is it saying to you?

How do you rejoice in prayer?

How do you rejoice when it's hard?

Do you think of rejoicing and thanksgiving as part of your everyday prayers?

What are we going to do about it?

Say out loud (even more effective with some gusto!) three specific things you are grateful for or happy about before you get started today (e.g., open social media, read the news, head out the door, etc.)