Philippians 4: 5-6 “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
My youngest son came into our bedroom crying about five o’clock one morning. “I’m scared of the sh-sh-shad-d-dow!” he whimpered. We knew just the shadow he was speaking of: his arch-rival, his nemesis. He has a cowboy room with a cactus coat hanger in the corner. The night-light shining on it gives it a larger-than-life, scary shadow on the wall. I felt like saying, “Don’t worry, Weston. It’s five in the morning-even the shadows are asleep right now. They don’t eat people this early in the morning. So go back to bed.” Thankfully, my more compassionate wife went into his room and took care of the shadow!
We laugh at his childish fear, but many times we live in fear of shadows in our own mind. The things we worry about in bed at night usually seem much bigger than they really are. They cast big shadows and can drive away our peace with fear and uncertainty. The Lord’s answer to these shadows is found in this passage: Paul exhorts us to let our “moderation,” or our gentle forbearance, “be known unto all men.” Why? Because “the Lord is at hand.” The Lord is with us, and this should affect our demeanor with others. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, “Godly men are reasonable men.”
Verse 5 tells us what we should make known unto men, and verse 6 tells us what we should make known unto God. The Bible says to not be “careful” (anxious) over anything, but to “let your requests be made known unto God.” The Lord does not want mindless, shallow, vague prayer from His people. Be specific! Be concrete! God wants to hear requests. This will take some thought, but you should come to the Lord knowing exactly what you want to ask of Him. Yes, we all know that the Lord knows everything and certainly knows the needs that we have. But He desires us to ask things of Him; He allows needs in our life so that we will pray.
Let me venture into the area of unspoken prayer requests. I don’t mean to make a big deal about this, but “unspoken” prayer requests do not fit the pattern for prayer that the Lord gives. When one of my children comes to me with a need, he or she does not speak in vague generalities! My son had a very specific shadow that he needed taken care of that morning, so he came to me for help. “Dear Lord, please bless all the unspokens” is not necessarily a sinful prayer, but couldn’t our prayers be more effective if we “let our requests be made known”?
Now, let’s look at the wonderful result of this kind of prayer: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” I can just imagine the Apostle Paul looking out at the Roman soldiers guarding his jail cell. Just as these soldiers faithfully guarded his cell, the peace of God will “keep,” or guard, our hearts and minds. How closely peace and our thoughts are connected! Concrete prayer to our Father will keep our hearts and minds where they ought to be. (Refer to verse 8-“think on these things.”)
Do you want peace when you lay in bed at night and when you wake up in the morning? Don’t spend your time hiding from shadows, but go to the One who can do something about them. Cast all of your care on the Lord, for He cares for you!
Prayer Requests:
1. Revival services tonight in Huntingdon, PA
2. Bill Rice Ranch Elementary Retreat II today and tomorrow
3. West Branch Regional Youth Conference in Phoenix, AZ tomorrow
4. Bill Rice Ranch Deaf Rally in New Market, VA tomorrow
5. Ranch evangelists traveling to services this weekend in Martinsville, IN; Salem, VA; Surprise, AZ; and Wickenburg, AZ