Powerful and Priceless Rubbish
Powerful and Priceless Rubbish Here at the prison, each week we have a chapel service which is similar to what you’d experience in a church. We sing a song, ...
Jason Forbes
Disability Advocate
The purpose of prayer can be put simply: enjoying God. This is where Paul begins in his well-known words in Philippians 4:4-7.
Paul instructs the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord.” He repeats the imperative in verse 4 to drive home its importance. Joy, for Paul, is not a fleeting emotion but a posture of delight in the Lord. Believers are invited to rest in Him, to be grounded in Him, and to take pleasure in building their lives on Him as their bedrock.
One way we enjoy God is by reflecting His character. This seems to be what Paul means when he urges them to make their “reasonableness” known to everyone (v. 5). The word points to a God-shaped character that Paul unpacks elsewhere (cf. 1 Cor 13:3–6; Gal 5:22–23; Eph 4:2; Col 3:12–14). Joy in the Lord is expressed as being like Him — and not just within the church, but in relationships with all people.
Of course, that is easier said than done. Our own wisdom and desires often feel more attractive than God’s ways. So how do we keep rejoicing in Him when distractions and pressures encroach on our delight? Paul answers: through prayer. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (v. 6).
Prayer, then, is not transactional but relational. It is the practice of bringing to God whatever threatens to erode our joy in Him. In prayer we hand over the circumstances that press in on us, entrusting them into His story, and in return we receive His guarding presence: “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7).
That guarding peace is more than calm feelings. When life challenges our values, it challenges our identity. Persecution or pressure can make us forget who we are. But prayer with thanksgiving anchors us in Christ and protects our identity as His people. The peace of God secures us at the deepest level of heart and mind.
This is the true purpose of prayer: not levers or formulas, but fellowship with God. Prayer is the practice of enjoying Him, rejoicing in Him, becoming like Him, and having our lives guarded by His peace. In every circumstance, whether joyful or hard, prayer draws us
deeper into the life of God, where we discover again and again the glad truth: we were made to rejoice in the Lord.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
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