Devotions | Calvary Fellowship

Joy in Practice

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“The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.” Psalm 22:26, NLT

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I once heard a story about George Mueller and it was said that he gratefully relied on prayer. The story goes: “One of main works of his life was the establishment of a large orphanage at Bristol, England. In 64 years from the outset of this work, Mr. Mueller cared for 10,024 orphans, established 7 day schools which 81,501 children attended; founded 12 Sunday schools which instructed a total of 32,944 children: and aided 25 Sunday schools in England and Wales. He contributed large sums of money to foreign mission work, distributed 1,989,266 Bibles and parts thereof, circulated 3,101,338 books and tracts, and traveled in 42 countries preaching the Gospel to 3,000,000 hearers. In all, he received from and gave back to God $7,500,000; at no time asking anyone for so much as a penny.

He was a man who knew by experience what it is for God to ‘give us this day our daily bread.’ He remarked, ‘From August, 1838, to April, 1849, we had day by day, almost without interruption, to look to Him for our daily supplies, and, for a great part of the time, from meal to meal.’ Materials were not the only things this man of God received in answered prayer. He made this statement: ‘Thousands of souls have been saved in answer to my prayers.’” 1

Joy is put into action by prayer. So, it makes sense to pray about everything, all the time. For the Christian the actual feet to our faith is seen in one way by how much we pray.

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Big Idea: Joy is Put into Practice—By A Person’s Prayer Life.

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As we move along to the final stretch of the devotion’s emphasis in Philippians, we see Joy in Action. Specifically, through how and when a person prays. Meaning that a joyful person has developed the habit of when something comes up, they bring it before God by talking with Him about it. Not hanging on to it and then thinking and festering about it but immediately finds themselves before the Throne.

Look at v. 5, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” NIV

Consider this, even joyful people have setbacks in life, don’t they? They’re not immune to problems basically. However, the difference may be in the response. Because one person goes into dwelling and festering but the other goes to God and leaves it in His hands.

Conversely, the unjoyful person allows the circumstances to affect their attitude in a negative way. But the joyful person gives it to God and goes back to being positive about life. The unjoyful person allows anxiety to take over and control their thoughts, but the joyful person learns to bring every request and petition to God.

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Insight: A Joyful Person’s Prayer Life Will Be Extensive and Full of Various Prayers with Gratitude

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Meaning, that it is not only put into practice by regular prayer by shown by the different types of prayers being offered up to God. If we look at the second part of verse 5, the Apostle shows a couple of ways. Because “By prayer” NIV implies the longer, regular, more structured requests like we may put on a prayer list to keep us focused.

However, “Petitions” give an image of the daily things that come to mind throughout the day by the Holy Spirit. An example might be we see a person and we get a thought because they remind us of someone we know. So, we use that as an opportunity to pray for that person quickly as we are going along.

Finally, the other ingredient the Apostle Paul gives us for putting prayer into practice is the phrase, “with Thanksgiving.” The joyful individual understands the importance of a thankful attitude. So, he or she makes sure we approach God with gratitude when we pray.

See, one is trusting in themselves and their abilities but the other in rooted in faith in God’s abilities.

David Jeremiah says it like this: “No matter what our circumstances, we can find a reason to be thankful.” 2 With God at the forefront of our minds and life we can rejoice and be grateful for so many things.

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Challenge: Are we practicing our joy through prayer or not? What is our prayer life like? Do I base my requests and petitions on circumstances or God’s goodness?

Pray: Asking God to help us put Joy into action through prayer, regardless of our individual circumstances...

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Going Deeper:

Commenting, the NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible, expands the reasons the Philippians, and us, could pray with gratitude when it says:

“Paul supports his exhortations to thankful prayer and thinking on godly things with promises of protection from anxiety by the peace of God (v. 7) and the presence of the God of peace (v. 9). The Philippians’ suffering at the hands of local opponents, whatever form it took, as well as their concerns over the woes of Paul and Epaphroditus, gave them reason to worry. But, as Jesus assures us, such troubles are never outside the control of the sovereign God, who is our loving Father (Mt 6:25–34). The antidote to anxiety is prayer, presenting to God our requests regarding every sort of concern while genuinely thanking him for his constant, generous provision (Col 3:15–17). " 3

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Devotion written by Pastor Frank & Samuel Gervasi

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1. Ministry 127, https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/the-joy-of-the-lord-is-better-than-the-pleasures-of-sin, as accessed on 04/28/2025.

2. 30 favorite Christian Quotes on Thankfulness, https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/30-christian-quotes-about-thankfulness.html , as accessed on 5/10/2025.

4. Music Intro/Outro, Praise Adonai, Integrity Music, Paul Baloche, 2009.

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