Live in Prayer-Live in Peace

Welcome to this edition of Power Point with Jack Graham. The Truth Network Podcast is brought to you by Zola Levitt Ministries. The Apostle Paul said, perilous times will come in the last days. Dangerous days are ahead for all of us and so we know that the world, the globe is at war.

There's terrorism of all kinds, shootings in schools and houses of parliament. These are fearful days and notwithstanding our own personal needs and problems and fears that we face and many live with anxiety and are uptight and stressed out and don't know where to take their problems. But you just have to wonder, does God have anything to say to us in these uncertain days?

Well, I'm glad you asked because in Philippians chapter 4 we see the antidote for anxiety. We see God's prescription in the midst of our pain, our fear and our uncertainty and it's all couched in a prayer. In fact, we're told that we're to pray at all times about all things, that our lives should be lived with a continual abiding attitude of prayerful devotion and dependence upon God.

Pray all of the time. In fact, if you're not praying, you're not a believer because believers pray and we need to pray but all of us want to know how to pray better. We need to pray more. We need to pray better because prayer is the key to everything we need to be and do in life.

Did you hear what I just said? Prayer is the key to everything we need to be and to do in life. And so the Apostle Paul as a part of his life and legacy gives us a passage in Philippians 4 verses 4 to 9 regarding how to experience God's peace and God's presence in times of struggle and personal pain and anguish and anxiety. Say, well it's easy for Paul to say after all he was an apostle. Well when Paul gave us these words inspired by the Holy Spirit of course, he was not on a Mediterranean cruise on his way to Mykonos to hang out on the beach.

No, he was in prison in Rome and he was writing Christians at Philippi who would experience persecution and pressure in their lives and it was very real these problems and these pressures and so this is not Paul in the pulpit, this is Paul in prison. We know that there are prisons of other kinds. There are prisons of personal pain and suffering and sickness. There is the bondage of bitterness. Some of you today are in a dark hole, a dungeon of depression.

Some are behind walls of loneliness and isolation. Others are fettered by fear and you feel like you're chained by your circumstances. Well if that's you and it's all of us at one time or another, listen to these words beginning at verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication.

Just insert the word petition or asking there. With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things and what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, here's His life and legacy. Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.

Yes we're to pray all the time about all things with thanksgiving in our hearts. Jesus said we are to pray and never give up. He said ask, seek, and knock. A-S-K. Just ask. Literally, keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking and I will open doors and I will answer your prayer and I will meet you at the point of your need. Ask. Pray constantly, continually, live in prayer and you will live in peace.

How? Well look at verses four and five and we see that if you're to live in peace and live in prayer, you therefore should rejoice in the Lord's presence. You see it there? Rejoice in the Lord always and just in case you didn't get it the first time. Again I say, rejoice. Jesus spoke of the fullness of joy as joy and joy and more joy. He said let your reasonableness, that's an interesting word. It can mean gentleness or forbearance. It really speaks of your attitude. Don't have an attitude of fighting and comparing and competing but be reasonable in your actions and your attitude with people.

One translation gave it meet people halfway. Don't always be fighting and striving in your life. The source of so much war in the soul and the lack of peace is just, you know, problems in relationship but He said let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

Be gracious, be gentle. For He said the Lord, look at it, the Lord is at hand. It's true, the Apostle Paul was in prison but he wasn't there alone. He said the Lord is at hand. Now Jesus is coming but this isn't talking about the second coming. This is talking about the current reality of His presence. That the Lord is at hand. Paul was saying the Lord is in here with me.

He's right here. Jesus promised His presence through His Spirit. Jesus said I will be with you always.

He said I will never, ever leave you or forsake you. The Lord is at hand, He's at your right hand. Isaiah 41 10 says, fear not for I'm with you. Don't be dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will hold you with my right hand of righteousness.

You're not alone, you're not isolated, you're not in a prison by yourself but He is there with you. This is the reason that we can say I rejoice in all things. Not in our circumstances but in Christ Himself. Because of the faithful, loving presence of Jesus in our lives, no matter what we can say I choose to rejoice because the Lord is with me. Jesus said in John 15 11, these things I've spoken unto you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. The joy that we have is continual, it is conspicuous, it ought to show up in our lives, our faces, our countenance. This joy is not only continual and conspicuous, it is complete that your joy may be full. And so while our circumstances may not be joyful and we're not happy all the time, we are happy in Him all the time because He has given us joy. I love Psalm 16 11, I will show you the path of life for in your presence, in your presence Lord, is fullness of joy and at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. We get our joy not in the pleasures of this world, not in trinkets, not in toys, not in entertainment, but we are in Christ and therefore we are in His joy. And here's what you need to do every day if you want to have peace and that is to practice the living presence of Jesus in your life.

That means He's real to you, He's at your hand, He's holding your hand. Paul said it, he said, I'm in jail but Jesus is in here with me. They could lock Paul up but they couldn't lock Jesus out. Jesus was in the jail and Jesus is in the middle of your storm walking on the waves. The Lord is at hand so rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. And you may not have physical strength and you may be suffering, you may be hurting, you feel like you're in a prison of pain but the joy of the Lord is your strength. Don't stop celebrating what Christ has done for you.

Rejoice in the Lord. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, live in prayer, live in peace. June 30th is PowerPoint's financial year end and we need your help. A generous friend has offered to match every gift given to PowerPoint this month so any gift you give to PowerPoint will be doubled allowing us to keep the hope of Jesus Christ coming your way and going out to millions more all over the world.

And when you give we'll say thanks by sending you Dr. Graham's book, A Man of God. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit jackgram.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is jackgram.org. Now let's get back to today's message, live in prayer, live in peace. I know some people don't want you to be happy. They're miserable so they want to make you miserable. In fact, you say something, you know, they ask you how you're doing, you say, oh man I'm having a great day, ticks them off.

But you just ignore them. You get up every day and resolve to rejoice in the Lord. There's a choice to rejoice here. You make that the first prayer that you breathe every day, Lord I celebrate, I rejoice in You. Thank you for this gift of life today.

Thank you for your presence. Secondly, you want peace in your life? Rest in the Lord's promise. Verse 6 is the prayer. He says, don't be anxious about anything but in everything in prayer and petitions, supplication. You know, supplication, that's not a word you use very often today. I think I'm going to go and supplicate with my wife.

You know, that's ask your wife something. And with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Don't worry about anything but pray about everything. We're, worry, fear, anxiety are toxic emotions that are so damaging.

They're unhealthy, they're useless, never accomplished anything. Worry never solved a problem. Worry never dried a tear.

It's like pouring sand in the automobile, your automobile. In fact, the word worry comes from a German word which means to choke or to strangle. That's a word picture of what worry does to it.

It is emotional strangulation. Worry, fear, anxiety will suffocate you and paralyze you. That's why Jesus clearly said don't worry about anything. We're commanded not to worry.

It's useless, unnecessary, unhealthy, and yes, it is unbelieving to worry. Someone said the beginning of worry is the end of faith. But the beginning of true faith is the end of worry. So, don't worry about anything but pray about everything. Pillow your head each night on the promises of God's Word.

Don't lay awake worrying, wringing your hands, wrestling in fear. Pray, give it to Him, trust Him, rest. Thirdly, reflect on the Lord's provision. You want peace? Reflect on His provision.

Sometimes we just need a change of perspective. And that's why He says that we should begin thinking and praying with thanksgiving in our hearts. He said pray with thanksgiving in our hearts. Rejoice, rest, and reflect upon the goodness of God in your life. Pray with gratitude.

Pray with thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5 18 says, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you. Not because of all things, but in all things. We can give thanks. Gratitude has been described as the healthiest of all human emotions.

Think about it. If you live with a grateful heart, if you live with praise and thanksgiving to God, it counteracts any toxic, negative emotion in your life. It elevates your spirit. Gratitude has also been called the highest expression of faith. And we live with a spirit of gratitude with a heart overflowing with gratitude to God when we worship Him and praise Him when we give thanks. In the root of the word thanksgiving is another word that's close. T-H-A-N-K, thank is the word think.

They're the same root, think. And therefore, when we stop to think and give thanks to God, it changes our perspective. Psalm 68 in verse 19 says, bless be the Lord. That's praise, worship, gratitude, who daily bears us up.

God is our salvation. He's praising the Lord. And then he ends with a little Hebrew word, which is selah. Bless the Lord, praise the Lord, selah. You know what that means, selah? That means think about it.

Stop and think about that. That God has blessed us. And so when we stop to think, we give thanks. And when we give thanks at all times, then we receive God's peace. We receive the Lord's peace. You see it there in verse 7, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts, literally will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You say, well, I lost my peace.

No, you didn't. Jesus keeps your peace. You can't lose your peace if Jesus is keeping it, if He's guarding it. We have the peace of God, which He describes as over the top, supernaturally, unexplainably, awesomely great. It passes logic and understanding this peace. You go through something and you can't even believe that you have such peace in your heart in spite of the storm that's blowing all around you. You know, it's been said many times that peace is not the absence of the storm, but it's the presence of Jesus in the storm. He comes walking to us in the turbulence, on the troubled seas of life. And so He gives us His peace, extraordinary peace.

It's indescribable but it is unmistakable when you experience. So you just need to stay in peace. Stay in the peace. Paul had guards around him at all times in this prison, so he's looking at these guards and he's thinking, you know, God's guarding me. God's keeping me.

That's why I'm here. In the upper room on His way to the cross, Jesus said in John 14 27, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. This is why we can say, it is well, it is well with my soul.

The world doesn't give it to us, the world can't take it away. You don't get this peace in a pill, in a bottle, in a syringe. You're a child of God and it is your legacy. When Jesus gave these words in the upper room, it was in effect the legacy of our Lord to all of His followers.

It is your life, it is your legacy to live and die in peace. Isaiah 26 3, you will keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because He trusts in you. So Paul said you need to get your mind right. Get your mind on the Lord and the things of the Lord. He says what is true and what is good and what is beautiful and what is pure and what is lovely and what is excellent and what is commendable and what is profitable. Think on these things, praise God, through it all. Paul would tell us in another passage, take every thought in your mind captive because you know as the mind goes, so goes the man. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So what you think about is what you become.

Garbage in, garbage out. What are you thinking about? What's filling your mind in the moments when you are alone? Steady your life with the peace of God by thinking thoughts of faith and blessing and purity, meditating upon the word of God. Colossians 3 16 says let the word of God dwell in you richly.

This is why we counsel you constantly. Get the word of God into your mind. Let it soak down into your soul. Let it saturate your spirit because the word of God will give you life and health and strength. Did you know that there is health and life and blessing and hope in the word of God? Get it in your life.

Get the word of God in your life. This is what Paul did, therefore he was able to face his future with prayerful hope and he had an uncertain future. He was facing execution and ultimately would give his life in martyrdom for the Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what? In prison, he could see heaven from there.

Ha! He didn't care. He could see the glory of Jesus from that place. And so he said I'm going to keep rejoicing. I'm going to keep resting. I'm going to keep giving thanks and reflecting on the blessings of God. I'm going to keep receiving God's peace. And then he went on to say in verse 9, whatever you've learned, received, heard, seen in me, practice these things, do these things and the God of peace will be with you. So on one hand we have the peace of God which passes understanding and on the other hand we have the God of peace. We have the peace of God to guard us, to keep us. We have the God of peace to guide us. You've got it all when it comes to God's peace. So you live in prayer, you live in peace. When you've received the grace of Jesus, you receive His peace. And His peace rules.

You know why? Because He rules. The reason you can have peace when everything's coming apart is because you know God's on the throne.

He's not left His place of authority in the universe, including your world. And He's going to be working all things together for the good. God has a destiny in mind for you.

And everything that happens to you is just part of God's plan. He's working it all together and He in the meantime said, I will never leave you or forsake you. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, live in prayer, live in peace. PowerPoint is coming up on the end of our financial year and we've got some exciting news to share with you today. Some friends have stepped forward with a $180,000 matching grant which will double any gift you give this month to help PowerPoint finish this financial year strong. With more people than ever searching for what only Jesus can provide, your gift today is nothing short of vital to help ensure PowerPoint remains a beacon of hope in the year ahead. And we'll say thanks for your gift today by sending you Dr. Graham's book, A Man of God, for you or someone you know. So call now to have your financial year-end gift doubled and request your copy of A Man of God as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit jackgram.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is jackgram.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Well, Scott, we all know people who seem to be happy no matter what happens to them, whatever life throws at them. And then there are those other people in life who complain and who constantly are negative. They're always down on something that they're not up on, even the smallest of problems. And when you wonder what is the difference between a person who is full of faith, full of hope, full of positivity, and that other person who's just always down, always negative, and what makes the difference?

Well, the difference is in how those two people think. The person who is full of faith, who is positive, understands that God is always working in their lives, and they focus on what God is doing, what God will do, and they trust him no matter what they face in life. This is the way we think. We think and we thank God that he's always working for good in our lives. If you're thinking negatively, if you're always expecting bad things to happen, then you can probably expect bad things to happen. That's why in the scripture that we shared today, it talks about praying about everything and thinking about those things that are praiseworthy and positive. Through Bible reading and prayer, through the worship of Christ with other Christians, you can get your mind right and begin remembering the promise of God and the promises of God that are always at work. God has a destiny for you, and that destiny is that you will be with him forever and ever. And you can face any today if you know your tomorrow is secure. So turn away from negative thinking and pray and ask God to give you a positive mindset. The Bible says, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

So begin thinking God's way and watch your life turn around. And that is today's Power Point. Remember, when you give a gift to Power Point, we'll send you Dr. Graham's powerful book, A Man of God, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word POWERPOINT to 313131. Text POWERPOINT to 313131. Join us again next time when Dr. Graham brings a message of how to passionately pursue God's purpose for your life. That's next time on Power Point with Jack Graham. Power Point with Jack Graham is sponsored by Power Point Ministries.