Why God Says Pray About Everything — Philippians 4:6-7

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. And again, it's good to have everybody back. We always have to thank the Lord that we've got good weather, because we want our television folks to know that a lot of you people drive 100 miles, 125, 30, in order to come in for these taping sessions. And not only that, but most of you are at the very core of our financial support, as well as the rest of our class people. And so I want you to know here in the studio how much I appreciate your putting forth the effort. And then for those of you out in television, we just want you to be part of the class. That's all we are, just an informal Bible study. And I was thinking the other day, of all the people I've taught, they get busy in their own churches. We don't ever try to twist arms, and as I've said so many times, we don't try to move people from one group to another. We just like to teach the Word, and they can take it into their own church, their own Sunday school, their own home, wherever, and teach the Word, we trust, with a more enlightened approach. Now, again, for those of you out in television, especially those of you in the Muskogee area, we've had so many asking us to start a class, so we're going to try and start a Saturday night class in Muskogee now, shortly down the road. And if you're interested and would like to know the where's and the when's, why you just give us a call on the 800 number. Now, that 800 number goes into our home, and so be aware that you won't always get an answer. Don't give up. But primarily, we're around the phone between 8 in the morning and 12, 12.30 at noon. So if you'll keep that in mind. Secondly, I want to thank you all for the letters as they've come in. I'm going to read you just two examples. One is one I'd almost like to frame, and it's really all we look for. And he wrote, we're watching, we're learning, and that's all I need to know. And then we just got another letter today from a family up in Montana, right up on the Canadian border, and she writes, thanks you, Les, for giving your time to teach. Through you, God has opened up a whole new life for us. And see, that's all we need. That's all we need. And we just praise the Lord for it. All right, now then, for those of you in the audience and the studio, we'd like to have you turn to Daniel chapter 6. I'm going to digress from the prophetic aspect for just one program, and we're going to talk about prayer. I think if ever there's been a time when the Christian community needs to come back to the basic tenet of prayer, it's the day in which we live. And we're going to take it from the setting in Daniel, because we like to do everything as much as we can according to the Scriptures. So if you've got Daniel chapter 6, we find that the decree has now come out by virtue of the king, because of those who hated Daniel and knew his prayer habits. So unbeknown to the king, they get him to sign a decree that everyone has to pray and bow the knee only to the king of the Medes and the Persians. Now, of course, that puts Daniel on the outside, doesn't it? And so I'd like to have you pick it up in verse 10 of Daniel 6. And so now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, the decree, that everybody had to bow and pray to the god of the Medes and the Persians, and the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed. And not only did he pray, but here is the secret, I think, of prayer. And he did what? He gave thanks. Now, I see a lot of times we think of prayer as only asking. But you see, what God demands first is a heart of thanksgiving. And if we can pray with thanksgiving, then we can rest assured that we're on scriptural ground. So he bowed his knees, and he gave thanks before his God. Now I'd like to have you come on over then to chapter 9, where again we pick up this man Daniel using the power of prayer. Now get the setting. Here is this young Jew in captivity, out of his homeland, and clear out in a pagan land, strange and far from home, and yet he can give thanks. But now look at his prayer on behalf of his people, Israel. Chapter 9, let's just drop down to verse 5, as he prays in verse 4, and he goes on to say, we have sinned, we have committed iniquity. Now he's speaking about himself and his people, the nation of Israel, and of course that's why they're in captivity, is because of their rebellion, their sinfulness. And he says, we have done wickedly, and we've rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Now, I'm not going to read his whole prayer. I trust you'll do that in your spare time. But I'd like to have you come now all the way further through chapter 9 to about verse 18, as his prayer is winding down, and he's praying his heart out on behalf of his own nation. And the reason I've decided to take this half hour in prayer is, again, because I think all of us are alarmed at what's going on in our country. We're alarmed about the spiritual rebelliousness. There is no interest, there is such tremendous ignorance, and really there's only one answer to it, and that is that God's people are going to have to get back on their knees. Now that's all there is to it, because I feel this way, and I may mention it again before the half hour is up, that if every born-again child of God in America would spend ten to twenty or thirty minutes every day on their knees, couples together or as individuals, if we as believers could do that every day, I know that things would start happening in our favor instead of going against us, because we realize if you know what's going on, the enemy is getting to the place where they can almost push us out the side door, and they're going to just simply make us inoperable as believers in the book, unless I'm convinced that the believing community gets back on their knees. And it's not all that hard. It's a habit like anything else, but we'll be looking at that as we go on through the half hour. So now as Daniel comes on down, then in chapter 9, back at verse 18, O my God, incline thine ear, open thy eyes, and behold our desolations. And of course now remember, Daniel is praying on behalf of his own people, Israel, and the city of Jerusalem. And he says, The city which is called by thy name, for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, not because they deserve it, but why? Because of his mercy. Now it's the same way for us today. We can never go before God and ask for anything because we deserve it. Everything that we get, every breath we breathe, every heartbeat is because of the grace of God. And so Daniel, even back here under law, when they have no knowledge of what we call the grace of God per se, yet he is calling upon the very grace of God. Verse 19, O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, hearken and do, defer not for thy own sake. O my God, can you hear the heart cry of this young man? He's not just uttering words. He's not just spinning a prayer wheel. He's not just counting beads. This man is pouring out his heart. And remember, it's the same God that you and I pray to today. We're under a whole different economy, granted. And we're going to go to the New Testament now and see what a difference that does make. And I guess this time you can go. Go with me to Philippians. Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. And there's, again, such a difference in some of these commands to pray and what have you. But here in Paul's letter to the Philippians, we have something that is so practical. And I think I've helped people over tough spots more often by taking them to these two verses than anything else during a time of trial and sorrow and perplexity. Because here are verses that every last believer can tie into. Now, remember that all of this is the privilege of the believer. That's who Paul is writing to. Paul doesn't write to the unbeliever, ever. As he writes to the believer, of course, he speaks to the unbeliever. But he writes to the believer. And so, to us as believers, he says in Philippians 4, verse 6, be careful for nothing. Now the word careful is translated out of a Greek word that really means be anxious, or I like to put it in even plainer language, worry about nothing. Now we can have concern. I think there's a big difference between worrying and having concern. I mean, after all, we all have our concerns. That's not necessarily worry. So be able to differentiate the difference. To actually sit and be a worrywart, God forbids it. You've heard the little cliché, why worry when you can pray? Well, that's so true. And God doesn't want us to worry. But that doesn't mean we don't have concerns, all right? So worry about nothing. In other words, don't just sit there and just let yourself go to pot, as we say, because you just don't know where to turn. Worry about nothing, but instead of sitting there worrying in—what's the next word? Now I'm a stickler for words. You know that, don't you? In everything. What does everything mean? Means everything. It means everything. There is nothing that God has canceled out and said, don't bother me with it. I've had people tell me that, well, Les, I can't go to God with my little problems. He doesn't want to be bothered. Oh, no. Yes, he does. He wants to be bothered, if that's the word you have to use. And so he says, in everything, by prayer and supplication—that's the same word that Daniel used—but what's the next two words? With thanksgiving. See, it doesn't do any good to go before God and ask and ask and ask. I don't think he's going to pay any attention. But if we ask with thanksgiving, with that attitude of realizing that he doesn't have to do what you're asking him to do, he's going to answer your prayer according to his grace, according to his mercy. And so we thank him for it ahead of time. It took me a long time to learn that, that as you pray, you thank him first. Thank him for what he's going to do with your particular request. And that's exactly what Paul is referring to. We're going to see here in Thessalonians where he says basically the same thing, that as we pray, we do it with that heartfelt attitude of thanksgiving. All right, now let's go on. Make your supplications with thanksgiving, and let your requests be made known unto God. You mean God doesn't know? Sure he does. He knows, but what does he want? He wants you and I to communicate. He wants us to let him know from our heart what we desire and what we need, even though he knows. Someone once asked me, and it made me think for about a week before I could come up with an answer, well, if God is sovereign and God knows all about everything and his will is going to be accomplished anyway, why pray? Have you ever thought of that? Why pray? Well, like I said, it took me a week to find the answer. And I don't know whether I was right or not, but I'll tell you the answer that I gave the young man. I said, look, in the foreknowledge of God, he knows everything that's going to be prayed for. You ever thought of it that way? See, everything is based on his foreknowledge. And so he can answer prayers, and it'll still fit in his sovereign will, because he knows ahead of time that you are going to ask for it. And consequently, then, it becomes part and parcel of his will, but he couldn't have done it had you not asked, because then his foreknowledge would have said, they're not going to ask for it anyway. Now, I may be leaving you in a web of confusion, but you just mull that over in the days to come, that as we pray, we don't change God's mind. You can't change a sovereign God's mind, but he's already planned everything according to the fact that you are going to pray for it. All right, now there's another great truth that I have to bring out in this verse. Most of my class people know it. I'm not telling them anything new. In this verse, we have all three of God's answers evident. Now, you're going to say, well, I don't see any answer in here. Well, when you pray, just ask yourself, when you pray, what kind of an answer do you expect? Now, I'm not talking about some audible voice. I'm just talking that if you pray for something, what kind of an answer do you expect? Well, bring it into your everyday life. If a child asks a parent for something, what kind of an answer do they normally expect? Yes or no? Or when a young lad—and I can remember asking for my first bicycle when I wasn't even old enough to hold one up on two wheels—and when I asked if I could have a new bike, what do you suppose my folks' answer was? Well, when you get a little older, see? Later. Now, put that into this verse. We come before God with anything and everything. Now, naturally, we're not going to be frivolous. We're not going to be silly. You're not going to waste your time or God's time with things that you know are superfluous and unnecessary. But when you come into the presence of God asking and petitioning with thanksgiving for legitimate things, you can expect a yes, a no, or a maybe later. Now, you just think about that. Maybe you've got a loved one that is desperately ill. Now, you have every right in the world to come before the throne of grace on behalf of that loved one, don't you? God may answer yes, and oh, we've had it happen to our class people. It's just thrilling when all of a sudden—had it again the other day—a lady asked us to pray for her mother up in Indiana, who had just been diagnosed with cancer, and of course we'll pray. And that was about three or four weeks ago. The other night she informed me that they had done exploratory surgery on her mother and found no cancer whatsoever. Now, that wasn't just my prayer, but that's the concerted prayers of everyone that she had probably shared it with. That was an immediate yes answer. Her mother does not have cancer. God may have chosen to leave her with her cancer. It would have been a no. She may have just gone on and become terminally ill. On the other hand, God may have said, well, now, just be patient. Down the road, we'll make her better. And that's a possibility. Same way in any other request you can make. But now the next verse, the next verse puts the cap on this whole concept of coming before the throne of grace with anything and everything, even though God may say no, even though God may say, well, maybe later. And it kind of leaves us in limbo. But look what the next verse says. And the peace, not with God, but the peace of God. Now, you see, you made peace with God the day that you took his offer of salvation. See, that's reconciliation. Reconciliation is when you, the sinner who was separated from God, was reconciled to God through the work of the cross. Then you made peace with God. There is no longer that enmity. You are no longer an outcast, so far as he's concerned. You're now his child. So you made peace with God the moment you were saved. Now then, as you walk the Christian life, we can have outpourings of the peace of God. Of course, it never leaves us, but I think we can have more at some times than others. The same way with the filling of the Spirit, we'll have more at some times than of others. But here we're promised that as we pray, as we leave everything in the throne room of heaven, we can come away every day knowing that the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. In other words, it's beyond human concept to have this peace of God, and only the believer ever understands what that is. But when you have that peace of God that passeth all understanding, it will keep our hearts and—what?—minds, our whole mental health. Even though we may go through adverse circumstances, our mental health can be kept in a balance with the fact that God has given us the assurance of his peace. So, whether God says yes, whether he says no, or whether he says later, we come away with a complete tranquility knowing it's in his care and that he is going to provide anything and everything that we may need. Now, you just take that with you. Whenever a crisis comes into your life, you run to these two verses, and you just literally claim them. You say, now, God, this is what you've promised, that I can come to you with anything and everything, and I'm going to thank you for what you're going to do. But whether you answer yes, no, or later, I know I have that peace of God that passeth all understanding. What more could we ask for? All right. Now, like I said, we're living in a day where I think our nation needs our prayers as never before because of the day and the age in which we're living. So, I'd like to take you all the way over now to 2 Thessalonians. Well, you might as well stop at 1 Thessalonians on your way. That's just a few pages to the right from where you are in Philippians. Philippians, Colossians, Philemon? No? Yeah, Philippians, Colossians, then Thessalonians. Philemon is further back. But now in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, the apostle Paul, again, is writing to believers up there in Thessalonica. That's a tough one for me to always say right, up in Greece anyway. And they've been under intense persecution. They've been under such persecution that they honestly thought they were in the tribulation, and that's what we'll see when we get into chapter 2. But in the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, drop down to verse 16. Now imagine, if you were under persecution, you were under pressure, and then have somebody write to you, verse 16, rejoice. That doesn't set right, does it? But yet Paul was so on target. These Thessalonian believers had this assurance that, again, their God was with them, that nobody could touch them without his knowing it, and so Paul could rightfully write, rejoice evermore. And then verse 17, pray without ceasing. Now when you're under persecution, I imagine that's pretty easy to do. But you see, the problem here in our beloved America, we've all got it so good most of the time that we don't really have a need, we think, to get on our knees and spend that 10, 15, 20 minutes a day that I think God expects of every believer. He expects us of it. He wants it. He wants to communicate with it. And I've had people kind of look at me side-glanced when I say you should be able to spend 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes every day on your knees in a prayer time. Now that takes habit. It takes habit. Some of you are already doing it. We talked about this in a couple of our classes in the last week, because prayer has just been on my mind lately. And I've had several on their way out that said, Les, my wife and I are already doing that. We're already spending 30 minutes every morning in the throne room. Just imagine if every believer in America would do that, young and old, families. You remember when I was a kid, and I'm sure most of you are older, we used to have what they call the old family altar, where the old dad would read a few verses out of the Bible, and they'd have a circle of prayer. And that was usually before we were getting on that early school bus. But you don't hear that anymore. But listen, God hasn't changed. His promises are the same. And when He says, pray without ceasing, that's what He means. And when He says in everything, bring me your supplications, bring me the desires of your heart, and bring me your praise and thanksgiving, He still means it. He hasn't changed. Now then, let's quickly go to Thessalonians chapter 2, and here's another reason I think we as believers should be praying extra hard. Because if you know anything about prophecy, and we'll be going back to that in our next program, we know that, or at least we're quite sure, that we're in the final days and hours of this age. And we know that the whole world's system is getting ready for the man of sin, the man Antichrist. But God has left the responsibility to keep the timing aspect on track so that He doesn't come on the scene before it's time to come on the scene. I think He leaves it with you and I as the born-again believers. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And again, let's drop in at verse 3. And I've just told you a moment ago the Thessalonians were going through such awful persecution, they thought they're in the tribulation. And Paul says in verse 3, let no man deceive you by any means for that day, in other words, the beginning of the tribulation and the coming in of the Antichrist, that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, an apostasy, or also a departure of the saints. In other words, the Antichrist is not going to appear before the church is gone. That day shall not come and that man of sin be revealed. And then verse 4, who opposeth, now this is Paul's description from, of course, the Old Testament descriptions of the man Antichrist, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he is God, sits in the temple of God. We're going to see in the next few weeks how he will do that, showing himself that he is God. And then verse 5, Paul says, remember you not, that I told you these things? Now, this is my reason for teaching as much prophecy as I do, because if Paul thought prophecy was important in his day to those new believers fresh out of paganism, then how much more important isn't it for us to teach it and to know it as we are approaching the hour? All right, now I've got to go quickly. I thought I was going to run out of material instead of time, but I'm running out of time. And now in the next verse, verse 6, and now he says, you know who withholdeth or restraineth, like a dam in the river, you know who restraineth that he, the Antichrist, might be revealed in his time. In other words, not ahead of time. There is a restraining power on the earth tonight that is making sure that the man Antichrist does not come on the scene until it's God's time. Now the next verse, verse 7, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Why land it's been on the scene from day one. Only he who now hindereth will hinder until he, that is the hinderer, be taken out of the way. Now who's the he? Well, it's the Holy Spirit. And where's the Holy Spirit? In dwelling the believer. So it's the believer that is the restraining power through the work of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, whereby we hold back this flood of iniquity that is coming on the world in order to introduce the man of sin, the man Antichrist. And so it's up to us to stand in the gap, to hold it back. And I think the first place we have to start is on our knees in the prayer closet, beseeching God. Thank you. And be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick. Thank you.