PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
TEN POINTS TO PONDER
We should never forget that Paul is writing these words from prison. When he uses words like “anything” and “everything” those include the times when you find yourself in prison because you’ve been falsely accused.
To “rejoice” is to “activate joy”. It is an action word that is rooted in state of being. It is the intentional act of bringing joy to the surface by externally declaring and demonstrating the internal reasons we have for happiness.
We are not to rejoice in our circumstances, because circumstances change. We rejoice in the Lord, because He never changes.
Tie this passage back to the previous verses. One of the reasons Euodia and Synctyche were feuding was that they lacked joy. It is impossible to be angry at another believer if you are filled with joy from the Lord.
“The Lord is at hand” can be understood several different ways, but what is undeniable is that it points to God’s proximity and His control. He knows what is happening and what is next, and He is near to us in and through it all.
If we truly believe that the Lord is at hand, the only reasonable response is to relax and rejoice in Him.
When we bathe our prayer in thanksgiving, we receive a greater benefit. We are reminded of God’s past provision and protection and we grow more confident in the trustworthiness of his promises.
Is there anything you can do about this? If so, do it and stop worrying. If not, don’t worry about it; pray.
Those who seek peace through understanding will never find it. Those who find peace without understanding will easily hold on to it.
You cannot find a good reason to be anxious unless you leave God out of the equation.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE ON ANXIETY ISLAND
Everyone experiences stress and anxiety, but no one has to live there.
Anxiety Island is a lonely place. It’s where we begin to believe the lie that no one could possibly understand what we’re going through. But Jesus understands. He has been there. Because He suffered in every way we do, yet without sin, we can look to Him to find the way out of anxiety and into God’s peace.
On the night Jesus had every reason to be overwhelmed by anxiety, He prayed.
Prayer is the alternative to anxiety.
Philippians 4:6-7 says:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
When we turn our burdens over to God, we can rest in His peace instead of rolling around in our panic.
In the previous verses, Paul encourages believers to rejoice always. The absence of rejoicing creates a void that anxiety loves to fill. That’s why Paul continues by reminding us that thanksgiving should accompany every prayer.
Thanksgiving is the antidote to anxiety.
When my heart is full of gratitude for God’s goodness, faithfulness, and provision, there is less room for anxiety to take root.
This passage is ultimately about the power of prayer, not the size of our problems. We bring our needs to God because we are confident in His character and provision. That confidence grows through a lifestyle of thanksgiving.
Notice that Paul does not promise we’ll receive everything we ask for. He does promise peace. Peace comes when we release our requests into God’s hands and trust Him with the outcome.
Trust is the antidote to anxiety.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked His Father if there was another way. There wasn’t. Yet even though His request was not granted, He was so filled with peace that He endured His trial with faith, courage, patience, and even forgiveness. He trusted His Father to do what was right.
Don’t stay stuck on Anxiety Island.
Fill your life with gratitude for what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. Find reasons to rejoice in every circumstance. Present your requests to your Father—and leave them there.
Be confident that He will meet your needs, work all things together for your good, and always do what is right.
Click on the image to download the DiscipleQuest PDF
The DiscipleQuest PDF includes 7 days of verse study prompts. You can use these seven studies to dig deeper into what the Bible teaches about being at peace:
- Matthew 6:25-34
- 1 Peter 5:7
- Isaiah 26:3
- Psalm 46:1-3
- Isaiah 43:1-2
- John 14:27
- Psalm 55:12
Use these questions as journal prompts or as conversation starters with a group of friends or a Bible study group:
Describe the most comfortable place in your house?
Talk about a time in your life when you have felt a “deep” peace.
How do you think comfort and peace are related?
What are the situations in life that steal people’s peace?
Read Psalm 23.
Have a few people talk about their experiences walking (or watching someone walk) through the “valley of the shadow of death.”
Verse four refers to fearing evil. What evil things do people often fear?
How do death, evil, and fear steal our peace?
What other life experiences make us uncomfortable? How does being uncomfortable often steal our peace?
What phrases in Psalm 23 are comforting phrases?
The last phrase of the Psalm is “I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
How should knowledge of future comfort help us deal with the current discomforts of life?
Verse one of the psalm says, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” How does contentment bring peace?
What aspects of your life are currently stealing your peace? How would the good shepherd tell you to deal with these?
PHILIPPIANS: Line by Line
Philippians 4:4-7: Rejoice in Everything
4a. Rejoice in the Lord always.
Paul writes these words from prison. He is not speaking theoretically. He is proving that joy is possible even when life is difficult. The secret is not changing our circumstances. The secret is fixing our attention on Jesus.
4B. Again, I will say, rejoice.
This is the theme of the entire letter. Paul repeats it so his friends won’t forget. Joy is not found in circumstances, comfort, success, or approval. Those things come and go, but joy is found in the Lord. If our joy depends on circumstances, it will disappear whenever life becomes difficult. If our joy depends on Jesus, it will always be available.
5a. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
Christians should be the most observably reasonable people around. Some people can always find a reason to be unhappy. Some people can always find a reason to be happy. Christians should always be the latter. If you are in Christ, and you’re not becoming a more joyful person, it’s either because you’re quenching the Spirit or because you aren’t really in Christ.
5b. The Lord is at hand.
(i) The Lord is at hand because He is present with us. He has not abandoned us. He knows everything that is happening, and He is in control of everything that is happening.
(ii) The Lord is at hand because He is returning soon. History is moving toward a conclusion. Every injustice will be addressed. Every wrong will be made right.
Because Jesus is near (remember Psalm 23), we do not need to panic. Because Jesus is coming, we do not need to worry.
6a. Do not be anxious about anything,
Anxiety is a burden God never intended us to bear. Nothing in life is a good reason to be anxious, but because we sometimes lose sight of God, anxiety can often creep in. This is not a suggestion that bad things and hard things don’t happen, but rather it is Paul’s core belief that bad things and hard things will not cause us anxiety if we deal with them the right way.
6b. But in everything…
“Everything” is a different way to say “anything.” This teaching from Paul is all-inclusive; there are no exceptions.
6c. by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Prayer is an antidote to anxiety. When we pray with thanksgiving, we leverage what God has always done to embolden us in our belief that He will do it again. He wants us to ask Him for whatever we want, and He wants us to do so with a heart that recognizes and embraces His ability to provide whatever we need.
7a. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
Anxiety grows when we focus on what we don’t know. We worry about what might happen, what people might do, what others might think, etc. Peace happens when we focus on what God knows (even if we don’t know it). Our confidence in His control allows us to live with peace, no matter what is happening.
7b. will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
When we let our emotions run wild, we become anxious. When we let our minds run wild, we become anxious. When we let Jesus run our minds and emotions, we find peace.
Lake Bible Notes 