Philippians 4v6 Torch Thanks 2

Abundant in their rejoicing

Because they have        -           A future hope

Romans 5:2-3 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (NIV)

A present security

1 Peter 1:5-6 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (NIV)

Nehemiah 8:10 “for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

An absence of anxiety

Is the fruit of such trust in God.

In his book Running From Reality, Michael Green wrote these words about believers who are living in fellowship with the Lord:  "Christians die well."  To illustrate his point, he told of Herman

Lange, a German Christian who was executed by the Nazis during World War II.  In his cell on the night before he was to be killed, Lange wrote a note to his parents.  He said two feelings occupied his mind:

 "I am, first, in a joyous mood, and second, filled with great anticipation." Then he made this beautiful affirmation:  "In Christ I have put my faith, and precisely today I have faith in Him more firmly than ever." Finally he urged his parents to read the New Testament for comfort:  "Look where you will, everywhere you will find jubilation over the grace that makes us children of God.  What can befall a child of God? Of what should I be afraid?  On the contrary, rejoice!"

Always praying

Yet it never leads to complacency or inactivity

Christians pray because

1          They always have needs

2                    God promises to supply needs in answer to prayer

3                    Such praying is rich father child fellowship

4                    They return to praise and thank for answers

On July 20, 1976, the Viking I spacecraft touched down on the surface of Mars.  Programmed to work until 1994, it pleased scientists by performing beautifully and sending back information whenever it was asked--that is, until November 19, 1982. On

that day the Viking flight team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory radioed some instructions up to the spacecraft's computer, expecting an appropriate response.  But no answer came.

The"uplinked" message from earth was not acknowledged, and no "downlink" reply was ever given.  Despite concentrated efforts by a team of experts, the spacecraft remains silent.  No one knows whether it will ever respond to earth signals again.

NOT SO GOD!

Accompanied by thanksgiving

There is not here a chronology

1                    Pray

2                    Thank

Rather prayer is intermingled with thanks, basted in it!

As we pray we do so with the assurance of an answer.

As we pray we do so in the remembrance of past answers.