PHILIPPIANS 1:3-4

My simple thought for this week is to make requests with joy. This is found in Philippians 1:4. The apostle Paul writes it in reference to his prayer for the saints. He writes to thank them for the financial gift they sent to him by Epaphroditus and to encourage them to remain joyful and united in spite of all the vicissitudes of daily life. He also writes to bring them up to speed with his condition. He is bound with chains, probably in Rome, waiting for a legal verdict regarding his case, and he calmly sits there admonishing the saints to be joyful. The imprisoned apostle is yet joyful. He is the apostle of joy. May the Almighty help us, in spite of all our circumstances, to still have joy.

I think, though, sometimes we forget that we are supposed to be joyful. Despite all the bad news and depression that characterize our world, Jesus was intentional about making it plain that His joy should still remain in us. Joy is an essential component of our Christianity. Jesus made this pointedly clear to His disciples when He said, “These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11). This He also prayed in John 17:13, declaring, “And now I come to thee; and these things have I spoken in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in them” (John 17:13). The more we live and read His word is the more we become convinced that His joy is different. His joy is not spasmodic and temperamental. His joy is constant and stabilizing. It remains even in negative situations and when crises occur. May we always seek to be filled with His joy!

In our main passage of reflection, the apostle Paul is able to forgo his own needs and pray for the brethren with thanksgiving and joy. He genuinely places their needs above his own. He prays for them – their faith, their grace, their concerns, their growth, their comfort. I find verses 3 and 4 remarkable. He declares, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.” We could pray with sadness, or we can pray with joy. Paul chose joy!

It is indisputable that Paul thought often of the brethren. Not only did he remember them often, but as he remembered them, he was thankful for them and prayed consistently for them. He was a man of deep meditation and preeminently a man of prayer. He was constantly thinking and praying, and as often as the brethren were brought to his memory, he prayed for them with thanksgiving and joy. When he wasn’t preaching, he was praying! We are called upon to be in constant prayer for one another. When we don’t see each other, may we be mindful and careful to be constantly praying for each other with joy.

What an amazing, innovative, and refreshing way to revolutionize and revitalize our churches. I trust that from now on we will remember to pray for the brethren, not with heaviness and depression, but with joy. He considered it a privilege and a blessing to be able to remember the saints wherever they were. He found the brethren not to be a burden but a blessing. May we always be thankful for the brethren and be always motivated and inspired to make requests for them with joy!