On Gratitude and Prayer

Philippians 4:5-7 – “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

More recently than I’d like to admit, we were completely broke.  I had no idea how we’d make rent, much less pay the month’s bills and expenses.  Our pantry held cheerios for breakfast, peanut butter and crackers for lunch, and beans and rice for dinner. James had milk and Matt and I had water.  For several weeks.  (Let me just tell you that while you can survive on this diet, limited variety is unpleasant for picky toddlers and beans in the longterm are unpleasant for our family in general.  Ladies, you know what I mean.)  I couldn’t work and Matt was given minimum hours and was getting absolutely no call backs on any of the job applications he submitted.  We were being slowly eaten alive by the interest rates on our debt and I was getting calls from creditors (something previously completely foreign to me).  Our marriage was  strained and we were exhausted in every way possible.

Then one evening we prayed.

It may sound as though I’ll follow that up with a miraculous story of inheritances or lottery winnings or job offers, but the truth is that nothing much changed.  Matt’s hours stayed limited (they still are), I accrued more medical debt, and our savings didn’t immediately bloom back into existence.  No, our circumstances stayed relatively the same, but we changed.  We’d been attending church, paying tithe, praying over meals and our financial circumstances, but up until then something had been lacking in our prayer life: thanksgiving.  Yes, we’d told each other that “it could always be worse” and that there was “always someone who had less” than we did, but those were platitudes – form letters to our intellects that never translated to truly grateful hearts until that evening. 

In our prayers together that evening, my husband and I did more than just say, “Thank you, God, for keeping a roof over our heads.”  We went back to the blessings He’s bestowed in our personal lives: finding each other, our children, our educations and jobs.  Most importantly, we remembered the unhappiness in our hearts before finding relationships with Christ.  Suddenly, in light of that blessing, our financial struggles and petty squabbles seemed almost ridiculous. 

As we can see in Philippians 4:6, we are to voice all of our supplications with thanksgiving.  Although many of us may be familiar with this verse, I find that even mature Christians often forget or misinterpret it.  In his commentary on Philippians 4, Matthew Henry observes, “We must join thanksgivings with prayers and supplications; not only seek supplies of good, but own the mercies we have received. God needs not to be told our wants or desires; he knows them better than we do; but he will have us show that we value the mercy, and feel our dependence on him.”  We are not merely to be thankful for the material blessings He’s given us (although His provision and grace certainly deserve our gratitude), but we are to pray with thanfulness in light of the preceeding verse: “The Lord is near” (Phil. 4:5).  We are intimately connected with a God who not only hears our struggles but has given us the only possible means of weathering them: His Spirit in our hearts.

My family, as do many in this economy, still struggles financially, although things are gradually improving.  My husband and I both work to make ends meet and to raise our children; we live within our means and are grateful for what we have.  We continue to pray, and in our prayers, we gain that peace that passes all understanding – a true readjustment of perspective and the knowledge that all earthly struggles are nothing in light of the fact that we have eternity to be content.

So, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thess. 5:16-18).