Title: Prayer (Phil. 4)
Contents
Title: Prayer (Explanation to Philippians 4)
(Sunday service on May 20, 2007, text: Philippians 1:9-11)
There is a person named Thich Nhat Hanh who became a best-selling author with “War” and “Power. He is a Buddhist monk who established a practice community called Plum Village in the 1980s. He wrote a book called Prayer. The book's preface introduces the following anecdote about prayer: He has the nuns he trains visit the Catholic community during the training process. The nuns who have returned from visiting the Catholic community say so to Thich Nhat Hanh. “Teacher, the nuns found themselves praying and entrusting everything to the Absolute. So it looked so peaceful. However, we try and meditate on ourselves to find the truth, and it feels so difficult and difficult.” Thich Nhat Hanh may have other reasons for introducing this anecdote in the foreword to his book. However, this anecdote makes us think that everyone can pray, but it can be different.
Guys, who are Christians? A Christian is a person who has gratitude for his life and a person who has joy. Then, what are the characteristics of a Christian shown through today's text? It is a person who prays. Today Paul says, “I pray” in verse 9. So, do only Christians pray? It's not like that. Buddhists, Muslims, and even those of shamanism don't know how hard they pray. A Christian is a person who prays. However, not everyone who prays is a Christian. Christian prayers are different from other people's prayers.
Gentlemen, there are three elements that make up prayer. What is it? It will be the person praying (the person praying), the person receiving the prayer (the object of the prayer), and the content of the prayer. However, there is no difference in saying that we pray here. Whether you have a religion or not. However, there is one thing that clearly distinguishes Christians from others. It is the object of prayer and the content of prayer. According to this, we know who the person is.
So, to whom do Christians pray? Who is the object of Christian prayer? A Christian is one who prays only to the living God.
Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
What does this mean? Those who come to God and pray to God must believe that God is a living being. Also, we must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, that is, He who responds and responds. There may be such a person. I pray to God, but I do not have faith that He is a living God. I wonder if he is still alive, answering, and working. Then, it is not possible. God is living. God is the One who always answers and is with those who seek Him. Everyone who came out of worship today, I hope that you will have a time to meet and feel the Holy and Almighty God, the living and working God.
Then, what is the content of prayer that Christians should offer? In a sense, the best model for a Christian's prayer is the prayer the Lord taught his disciples. This is what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” or “The Lord’s Prayer”. I think it would be very meaningful to look into “the Lord’s prayer” someday when the opportunity arises. Along with that, Paul today also sets a good example of how Christians should pray.
Then, what is the content of prayer that Christians should offer?
First, “the abundance of love.”
Verse 9, “I pray that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all understanding.”
A lawyer asked Jesus to test him. “Jesus, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Then Jesus answers. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Love of God, love of neighbor. This is the summary of the Bible.
Who are Christians? A Christian is first a ‘beloved person’ He is the one who received the love that he loved even to the point of giving up his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for us who were enemies. Who are Christians? Christians are now ‘beloved ones’. After self-healing and restoration through the love poured out through Christ, he now loves his neighbors and even his enemies. The Christian must have this love more and more abundant. The depth and breadth of that love, and the height and length of that love, must become more and more abundant.
But, look carefully at today's words. Through what do you say that love can be made richer? It says “with knowledge and all understanding”. What does it mean? Love also requires knowledge and wisdom. In order for love to be more abundant, we need the Word of God and the wisdom through it. That is why we need the ability to put those words into practice. I hope that love will grow more abundantly through the Word and the wisdom it gives.
Second, “good discernment.”
Verse 10a, “You discern what is most good.”
Third, it is “the unchanging truth”.
Verse 10b, “be truthful and blameless until the day of Christ”
Christians must be truthful. Truth, Honesty This is the most important ethical virtue for a Christian. If lies and deceit enter, faults will inevitably arise. You must be sincere to remain holy until the day of Christ. It must be unchangingly truthful. There is a famous psychiatrist named M. Scott Peck. Among the books he has written is a book called People of Lies (Subtitle: The Psychology of Evil). As a psychiatrist, this book is a study of demons, Satan, and evil. By the way, in the first chapter, Scott Peck describes a person who willfully, deliberately deceive, and lie as “a man who has a contract with the devil.” Jesus speaks of the devil in John 8:44: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not stand in the truth, because the truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” The devil is the father of lies. We must not forget that whenever we lie, the devil controls us.
Who are Christians? A Christian is a person who prays. He is a man who prays to the living God, and he is not selfish or self-centered, but an intercessor for others. Also, the content of the prayer is for those who pray for “abundance of love”, “good discernment”, and “unchanging truth.”
I would like to introduce the prayer of peace of St. Francis.
Lord, make me an instrument of peace.
Where there is hate, love
Forgiveness where there is strife,
Unity where there is division,
Faith where there is doubt,
truth where there is wrong,
Hope where there is despair,
Where there is darkness, there is light,
Let me sow joy where there is sorrow.
to comfort rather than be comforted,
understand rather than understand,
Let me love rather than be loved.
we receive by giving
being forgiven through forgiveness
Because by forsaking self and dying, we gain eternal life.
Amen.