Have you noticed when we first come to know the Lord, our joy is tremendous, we find peace we have never experienced, and we walk in hope we never had before?

BUT THEN, time and daily life begin to creep in and the hard realities of this “not-yet” side of Heaven begin to wear many down.

Surely, Paul sensed this and was inspired to encourage the believers at Philippi that God would, indeed, complete the good work He had started.

Paul says, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you with all joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. “ (Phil 1:3-6)

And for some of us, walking in the harsh realities of trouble in this life, we need to remember this, again, too.

God WILL complete what He has started. God WILL complete what He has started in YOU! (Go read the verse again, it’s what it says!)

Though this world seems out of control, if you read prophecy, it actuality seems to be going just as God said it would.

The fact is, God is as much in control as He was the day He created the Universe. He is at work. He is keeping EVERY promise.

We should find comfort in this, AND we should be even more compelled to know and obey the One calling the shots!

And let’s don’t miss this-though Paul had founded the church at Philippi (eleven years prior to writing this letter), though he was surely busy facing all sorts of threats against his life, though he had founded many other churches, and worked with many others needing to be set free from their chains, Paul DID NOT stop praying for this group of believers.

Friends, we can’t stop praying! If Paul had time to pray, so do we! If our Lord prayed, so should we!

We are called to pray for each other.

We should especially pray fervently for new believers who are quickly assaulted by the evil one trying to convince them to pick up their chains of bondage once more.

We should pray for our pastors to stand strong and preach the Word in these turbulent times in our Godless culture.

We should pray for our governmental leaders to stand for truth and to protect life and liberty.

We should pray for our children and our marriages to be protected. (By the way, every Christian marriage has been targeted by the enemy. Yours included.)

Oh friends, every time we feel a sense of worry or concern, every time we see the world looking out of control, let’s stop wringing our hands and instead clasp them in prayer.

Have you noticed knees knelt in prayer always seem to stop wobbling in fear?

Our God is near. He hears our prayers. He is at work. Let’s make our requests with joy and be confident that the One who started the good work in us, and those we love, He is faithful to complete it!

readPhilippians

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