Sowing one thing and praying for another is foreign to the mind of the apostle Paul. That’s not how it works. That’s not what Paul’s talking about in trusting in God. There are people who sow nastiness then they expect kindness to just sprout up all around them. A lot of people trust in God to alter the circumstances of the moment. They think he’ll somehow magically rekindle the fire of a lost love after they’ve chose a life incorrectly. Or he’ll bring them the right job after they’ve sown an attitude at their previous place of employment that caused everyone around them to want to avoid them. There are those who sow to bad health only to pray that God will guide and lead the hands...provide the wisdom to the doctors they hope will heal them. That’s not what this passage in Philippians 4:4-7 is all about. When the circumstance of the moment is a happy circumstance, lets say things are going well health wise...things are going well for the children, grandchildren...the monthly bills are paid, the job is secure. We know the details of life. When everything is well on the home front that’s when we can say a person might very well be happy. Of course, happiness is fleeting. Circumstances can go south. If joy were dependent upon the situation at hand, it would be uncertain as a match lit on a windy day.
The joy Paul is talking about has no relationship to the transient nature of life. So the believers attitude needn’t to become victim to uncertainty or adversity. Joy is a trust issue. Joy for a believer is a state of mind independent of surrounding circumstances. Rejoicing is the exhibit of that inter-state of mind. Prayer - an attitude of mind, a continual trusting and thanking God. Is the purpose of prayer to call God’s attention to our plight? Is there anything hidden from God? No. If this is true, it was then and it is now, must we actually utter something for God to know what’s on our minds? He knew before we uttered it. He knew it before we thought it. Prayer was not given for the purpose of making God aware of our circumstance or situation, our problem or our plight. So are we to pray? Yes. Does it matter what we pray about? No. Was prayer given that we might call God’s attention to our problem? No. If prayer was not given to benefit God, then for what purpose was prayer given? It was given to benefit us because God knew through our life we’d be stressed out. And God gave us a way to release that stress and demonstrate our trust. It was given for the purpose of our peace.
The joy Paul is talking about has no relationship to the transient nature of life. So the believers attitude needn’t to become victim to uncertainty or adversity. Joy is a trust issue. Joy for a believer is a state of mind independent of surrounding circumstances. Rejoicing is the exhibit of that inter-state of mind. Prayer - an attitude of mind, a continual trusting and thanking God. Is the purpose of prayer to call God’s attention to our plight? Is there anything hidden from God? No. If this is true, it was then and it is now, must we actually utter something for God to know what’s on our minds? He knew before we uttered it. He knew it before we thought it. Prayer was not given for the purpose of making God aware of our circumstance or situation, our problem or our plight. So are we to pray? Yes. Does it matter what we pray about? No. Was prayer given that we might call God’s attention to our problem? No. If prayer was not given to benefit God, then for what purpose was prayer given? It was given to benefit us because God knew through our life we’d be stressed out. And God gave us a way to release that stress and demonstrate our trust. It was given for the purpose of our peace.