The Manual

The Word is God revealing Himself to us.  Think about that! Within those pages is a manuel for life. Everything we need to know is right there. Take for instance the remarkable passage in Phil. 4:6

6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. BSB

We read right over that.  We never study it. We never take the time to meditate on it and in that one verse, it has the instructions for turning anyone’s life around.

Rick Renner has written a book on Phil. 4:6, delving into the Greek for which he is known. He says Phil 4:6 can be expanded and interpreted this way:

Don’t worry about anything - and that means nothing at all, instead, come before God and give Him the things that concern you so He can in exchange give you what you need or desire. Be bold to strongly, passionately, and fervently make your requests known to God, making certain that an equal measure of thanksgiving goes along with your strong asking. You have every right to ask boldly, so go ahead and insist that God meet your need. When you pray, be so bold that there is no doubt your prayer was heard. Broadcast it! Declare it! Pray boldly until you have the assurance that God has heard your request.

This can only be done by understand who you are in Christ, what He did for you taking your place, and making you righteous because of His sacrifice, not by what you’ve done and then knowing the Word enough to know His promises.

“There is no doubt that this word describes someone who prays authoritatively, in a sense demanding  something from God. This person knows he needs and is so filled with faith that he isn’t afraid to boldly come into Gods presence to ask and expect to receive what he has requested.”

“This means when you pray about a need that concerns you, it is right for you to pray authoritatively. As long as your prayer is based on the Word, you can have the assurance of Gods promise regarding the issue you are most concerned about. Furthermore, when you pray, it is spiritually appropriate for you to fully expect God to honor His Word and do what you have requested.”

Remember faith is a noun. Faith equals Jesus. So when you understand what He did for you, then you can understand what His intentions are toward your future. This puts worry and anxiety to death and frees you to live an overcoming life in thankfulness and peace.

Blessings

Quotes taken from Rick Renner news letter dated May 2023