Day 25: Philippians 4:8-9
âFinally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirableâif anything is excellent or praiseworthyâthink about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in meâput it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.â Philippians 4:8-9
God desires a deeper and more intimate relationship with us, and He has already provided the way to Him, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell us. The Holy Spirit deepens our relationship with the Father. God already did the heavy lifting for us. Through the sacrifice of Christ, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, our spirit is joined with the Spirit of God. This connection allows us to âapproach Godâs throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.â Hebrews 4:16
A tool the Holy Spirit uses to help us understand God and our connection with Him is the Scripture. And the words of God help shape our prayers. While there are several passages that teach us how to pray and several passages about prayer, the Psalms are only prayers. They help teach us what to pray and how to pray, and even what to do with our emotions.
Instead of having âour emotions inform our view of God,â the Psalms teach us to âtake our emotions to God. And letting Him inform our emotions, in light of Him being God.â[1] This is a great promise to us, as we grow closer to God in prayer, He will align our wills to His will, our desires to His desires, and our emotions to His emotions.
Prayerwork, Part 1: Read Psalm 101.
Prayerwork, Part 2: Go back and fill in the blanks about Psalm using Philippians 4:8-9 to deepen your understanding of the Psalm 101 prayer.
What truth does this Psalm teach?______________________________________________________________________________
What something noble found in this Psalm?
______________________________________________________________________________
What does this Psalm teach that is right compared to what is wrong in the world?
______________________________________________________________________________
What is pure about what is taught in this Psalm?
______________________________________________________________________________
What is lovely in this Psalm?
______________________________________________________________________________
What admirable in this Psalm?
______________________________________________________________________________
What is excellent in this Psalm?
______________________________________________________________________________
What is praiseworthy in this Psalm?
______________________________________________________________________________
Prayerwork, Part 3: Choose one or two of the responses you wrote and form that into a prayer of adoration for God.
For example, âGod brings about justice in His timing,â is something true this Psalm teaches us in verse one. And âtrying to avoid vile things (verse 3) is noble.â A prayer of mine might be something like this:
âGod, I thank You, because You bring about justice and right the wrongs with perfect love. Lord, I adore You because You forgave me my sins, so I will strive for purity like Your Son, Jesus Christ.â
Write your prayer in the space below:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prayerwork, Part 4: Continue to try and turn your thoughts toward God, often, today. See if you can pray for a conversation, while youâre in the conversation. Ask God to open your eyes to see people who need to hear about the Gospel of Jesus. Ask God to open your eyes, throughout the day, for places where you will act like Christ for the glory of God.
âIn the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in heaven.â
Matthew 5:16