Pray

One of the scariest times of my life was in the back seat of a taxi overseas, flying through crazy traffic at ridiculous speeds. I’m sure a number of you can relate to that kind of experience. It was certainly a time I devoted to prayer. I'm reminded of this experience every Father's Day when I hear the following dad joke. One day a preacher and a taxi driver died and arrived at the Pearly gates. St. Peter took them both in and showed them around. He first dropped off the taxi driver at his new mansion. It was huge. It had 4 storeys a pool, multiple games rooms, ultimate luxury. The preacher was excited to see his place but, when they got there, he was surprised to find that his ‘mansion’ was a tiny house with barely one room, no pool and no games rooms at all! It was completely unfair and it made the preacher mad. He said to St Peter, “I’ve served God my whole life. I’ve faithfully, ministered to the flock, preaching every Sunday to a full church. Why don’t I get a big mansion like the taxi driver?” St Peter replied, “I’m sorry, around here we look at results, when you preached, people slept, but when the taxi driver drove, people prayed.” It might be a mildly amusing joke but it contains a certain element of truth doesn't it? It is human nature to reach out to God in uncertain and fearful times. This pandemic and all the economic and social upheaval around the world, has shown this to be true. People have spent more time and energy calling out to God. Paul, in the first century, along with the rest of the church, faced incredible uncertainty and suffering. Like pastors today, Paul sought to bring comfort to his people with the instructions to "Rejoice in the Lord Always," and "Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, 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." These incredibly popular verses are often quoted, but not particularly well understood.

Scripture References: Philippians 4:1-23

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From Series: "He's Still Got The Whole World In His Hands"