This Sunday we will look at Philippians 4:4-9. I have had the privilege of sharing the hope of this passage with many over the years. One translation gives verse 6 as “Don’t worry about anything. Pray about everything.” And then Paul adds, “with thanksgiving”. That has been such a blessing in my own life, whenever I remember to practice it.
But the little phrase right before, at the end of verse 5, helps me confidently give thanks when I’m tempted to worry. “The Lord is near.”
The Lord is near. He is near in time (He is coming soon). But He also is near physically. Matthew ended his gospel account with the words of Jesus, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Just knowing His presence with me gives me great confidence that when I pray, He hears me. So I can be thankful in prayer, knowing that “…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14–15)
John Wetzig
