Faith in love
I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
– Philemon 1:5-6
To close out our look at this passage of Philemon, I’d like to focus on the opening portion of Verse Five.
In this verse, Paul conveys his gratitude to God and his inclusion of a fellow believer in his prayers. In these two facts, Paul demonstrates a grateful and rejoicing attitude and a genuine compassion and concern for the well-being of others.
In both, Paul serves as a fine example for us.
The Holy Bible has no shortage of calls to gratitude, thanksgiving, and rejoicing. One could argue it’s one of the most commanded activities and mindsets given to believers.
In either case, God undoubtedly has a notable preoccupation with His believers being thankful in mind and word.
One of the greatest enemies we face as modern Christians is the spirit of pessimism. The wantonness of the human mind to veer into despair, negativity and anxiety has stolen much joy from the body of Christ throughout the centuries.
I speak for myself, and I dare say you as well, dear reader, that pessimism has stolen away much joy from my own life over the years. So it’s little wonder that our God would be so concerned with us being of thankful minds.
A mindset that is grateful, positive, and focused on the good that has been and will be does much more to bring joy than a worried mindset does to prevent trouble. So, to simply take the time to count our blessings can be one of the most Christian, and one of the most beneficial things, we can do.
Of course, while we can count our blessings, our needs do continue to compile. So what of those? We pray, as so gratefully I can say our God has promised that he cares for us so much that we can ask for his help with anything that worries us at all.
But what if we extend our prayers outside of ourselves?
What if we, like Paul, take time from our days to pray for others, to pray for things that won’t directly benefit us in any way whatsoever?
I dare say those prayers could be the most effective of all.
Two very simple pieces of advice to live an effective and joyful Christian life: Count your blessings, and pray.
Jason Shockley is an evangelist and teacher passionate about uplifting others through the word of God.