The Daley Bible Study #1

This is a weekly bible study post which I will endeavour to do each Sunday, and I’m doing it on my personal blog because of reasons. The views expressed in these posts are my own personal beliefs. Please feel free to add anything or dispute anything I’ve said, I’m fairly young and inexperienced at this, so I’m very much open to constructive criticism.

Today I want to talk to you about these verses:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice! 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 presence of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:4-7

You may also want to read Romans 8:28-34 and Matthew 6:25-34

Okay, so firstly I want to talk about the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a fleeting emotion, usually felt based on circumstances. For example, you eat an ice-cream; you feel happy. Happiness can be snuffed out in an instant by a change in your circumstances, the actions of someone else, or even just your own internal thoughts. Joy, however, is different. Joy is a lasting experience, and it isn’t really a ‘feeling’ so much as a way of life. To be joyful is a choice you make yourself, and it is possible to be joyful through any circumstance, providing your joy is anchored in the right thing. Joy is the knowledge that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28), and not worrying about your circumstances.

Secondly I’d like to talk about anxiety. As someone who struggles with anxiety on a fairly extreme level, I realise this is a difficult topic. These verses suggest that we should not be anxious about anything, which to me sounds like a big ask. I mean I understand not being anxious about trivial things, but some things surely require a level of anxiety, don’t they? If your grandmother was taken into hospital, shouldn’t you have the right to be anxious? God says no. But he offers us an alternative:

‘but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’

Pray. Pray pray pray pray pray. Prayer is such a powerful thing, it’s how we communicate with our Heavenly Father, and we even have Jesus himself interceding for us (Romans 8:34) as we present our requests to the Lord. God does not just encourage us to pray, he encourages us to petition him. Have you ever been walking down your local high street and got stopped by a petitioner? They are so passionate about their cause, so full of zeal and desperation for you to sign their petition, because their cause matters so much to them. We should petition God for the things we are anxious about instead of worrying about them and getting ourselves stressed over them. I realise this is a lot easy to say than it is to put into practice, and I can write this whilst I am in a close-to-God place and you may be reading it in a far-from-God place…

Perhaps you’ve become jaded by years of unanswered prayer, or you feel God has been silent for so long he’s abandoned you. Maybe you’ve been praying ceaselessly for a friend or a relative to come to faith and you’re exhausted with trying to do the best you can to evangelise to them yet you’ve seen no results. I want to tell you there is hope, do not give up, the power of prayer is astonishing. I have known people and heard stories about families praying for relatives for years and years before them coming to faith, tales of parents praying relentlessly for their prodigal children, and them coming home to Christ. He has not forgotten you, he will never leave you or forsake you, (Hebrews 12:5) and I believe that he is listening to you at all times, for it says:

“The Lord is near.”

I could write a lot more about these verses, but I’m no preacher, so I think I’ll leave it at that. So in summary: Be joyful, Do not be anxious, instead be prayerful and petition the Lord, and you will know his presence. He has not forgotten nor abandoned you, and there is always hope. Prayer is powerful.

If you believe in the power of prayer, why not join Prayer Possible, a Facebook group run by a friend of mine where you can post prayer requests that can be prayed for by people all around the World.

God Bless

Alley-Cat
xxxx

©Alice Daley 2014