“Don’t worry over anything whatever; whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7, Phillips).
Could peace and identity be key ingredients for genuine community? Could prayer be a prime catalyst for ushering in peace and identity? Comments from my last post got me thinking about these things (thanks to you who commented).
Christ-followers will have the best impact on culture if the Christian community itself offers something different. But do we offer something different? The more personal question is do I offer something different? Too often the answer is, no, I don’t.
This realization hit home early this morning as I grimaced in pain due to the tension I’m carrying in my neck and shoulders. Tension coming from child behavioral issues, job ambiguity, and taxes (oh my, taxes are a grind!). All these thoughts began coalescing into a cacophony of concern causing me to reach for the Ibuprofen (and a cup of coffee). But another result of the tension was being snappy with my wife and five year old son (whose birthday is today, by the way). So is being snappy with my wife and family offering the culture anything different? Is being snappy, also called “grumpy,” drawing people to what’s inside me? Of course not, I’m being just like everyone else—worried and joyless. If all my other Christian friends are the same way, then we have a community of nothing different than anyone else; we have a community that no one really wants to be a part of, even me.
So what is the antidote to this worried joylessness? The simple answer is prayer, but there’s more to it. Another rendering of Philippians 4:6-7 is:
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (NLT).
The word “peace” is hard to define, but it includes the sense of quietness and rest. God is inviting us to allow Him to quiet our minds so that we can truly be at rest. We can’t truly rest when we’re worried about stuff we have little to no control of.
The phrase “live in Christ Jesus” implies we are to deeply identify with Christ Jesus Himself. This is not a mere acknowledgement of Christ, but a deepened understanding of what He has done for us and what being indwelt by the Holy Spirit means to our lives.
All of this is catalyzed, or initiated, by prayer. God is inviting us to enter into this rest and deepened identity, but notice that He doesn’t barge in or force it on us; instead, He lovingly invites us in if we choose to accept His invitation. Granted, along with prayer we also need to read and understand His Word, but perhaps establishing genuine community begins with each individual bowing in prayer. In doing this, we then experience that quietness and rest in our own souls which will emanate to others we have contact with; and this will be attractive to the larger community.
So pray on, dear friend, pray on!
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