Thanksgiving And Prayer

Issues – November 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Thanksgiving And Prayer

I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you, constantly in my every supplication, making the supplication for you all with joy; because of your fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now. —Philippians 1:3-5 JND

Thanksgiving and prayer are linked together in our verses: “I thank my God … constantly in my every supplication” (vv.3-4; see Eph. 6:18). Years earlier, in the jail in Philippi, Paul and Silas had prayed and sung praises (Acts 16:23-25). Now in a prison at Rome, the apostle wrote in his letter to the believers in Philippi, telling them that he was still doing the same thing.

Paul began his letter by writing: “Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:2). Near the end he revealed the secret of that peace: “In everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (4:6). Thanksgiving sees the blessings already received, and prayer sees the needs still to be met.

Paul could never think of these dear saints in Philippi without giving thanks for them. His declaration was “for my whole remembrance of you” (1:3). It was not only at isolated times when he remembered the believers that he gave thanks for them, but the whole, complete memory of them was one which filled him with thanksgiving. With this in mind, notice how the thought of “all” is repeated in our verses: “whole remembrance,” “every supplication” and “for you all.”

I am reminded of a beggar who was so busy asking for gifts that he never took time to thank those who gave to him. The result was that those who generally gave to beggars in the area often passed him by. This begs the question, “Might we not know more answers to our prayers if we spent more time in thanksgiving?”

In the days of old there were those whose “place was … to stand every morning to thank and praise Jehovah, and likewise at even” (1 Chr. 23:28,30). Have we, who know God’s unspeakable gift, any less cause for thanksgiving than those of the Old Testament? From the very first day by the river, when Lydia’s heart was opened (Acts 16:13-14), right up to the day when Paul wrote to the Philippians, he gave thanks for those believers. What a contrast to the church in Galatia – the only one for whom the apostle had nothing for which to give thanks!

Remember, there was not only thanksgiving for the believers in Philippi, but there also was “supplication for you all with joy” (Phil. 1:4). A fellow believer, Frederick Lavington, now with the Lord, while commenting about Philippians, wrote: “I call your attention to the large place in this epistle, and in others, which the subject of prayer has with the apostle, and I make bold to say that in practical Christian life and experience, this is the breath of the Christian. The apostle was one who, in writing his letters, never wrote (as one has said) with a dry eye; such was his heart for the saints of God. Continually we find also the references to the way his heart is occupied with the Lord, as being poured out to his God and Father, or to the Head of the Church, in prayer, in order that His saints may be maintained, and that those in whom God has begun a good work, may continue in the faith grounded and settled (Eph. 1:16-23, 3:14-19; Col. 2:1-3).”

In considering thanksgiving and prayer, we must not pass by those two little words “my God”: “I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you” (Phil. 1:3). The apostle had just said he was the bondman of Jesus Christ (v.1), which meant he belonged to Him. Then he spoke of “my God.” When speaking to the heathen on the ship on the way to Rome, Paul said of God, “Whose I am and whom I serve” (Acts 27:23). Yet now, writing to the saints, he said, “my God.” Not only are these words intensely individual, but they also tell of love and nearness.

The apostle liked to use those words, for we find them again in Philippians 4:19. There we read: “My God shall abundantly supply all your need.” The apostle thanked “my God” for the Romans and for Philemon (Rom. 1:8; Phile. 1:4). To the Corinthians he wrote: “I fear … lest my God should humble me as to you” (2 Cor. 12:20-21). In Philippians 3:8 Paul spoke of “Christ Jesus my Lord.” It is a grand thing to be able to know God as “our God” (Ps. 67:6). The voluntary bondman in Exodus 21 could say, “I love my Master” (v.5). And, we remember Thomas in John 20:28, who upon seeing the resurrected Lord said, “My Lord and my God!” How good when we can say, “I am His, and He is mine, forever and forever!”

We must link Philippians 1:5 with verse 3: “I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you … because of your fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now.” Studying Scripture we find fellowship linked seven times with the Philippian saints,* but what is fellowship as used in the New Testament? The Greek term comes from the word used for “partners” in Luke 5:10. James and John were partners with Simon in the fishing business. I believe in the New Testament, fellowship always means a relation between persons based on Christian unity; perhaps “joint participation” is one of the best definitions of the meaning. When Lydia received Paul and those with him into her house, she was having joint participation in the gospel. Likewise, when Paul was preaching in Thessalonica and the Philippian saints sent him gifts (Phil. 4:16), they were having joint participation in the gospel, or “fellowship with the gospel” (1:5).

The apostle gave thanks for this “fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now” (v.5), meaning the present moment. Sometimes the saints grow weary of sharing in the gospel; adversity comes; evil reports are spread; there are heavy demands at home; and the fellowship in the gospel grows cold. It is generally the poor, like the Philippians, who have an unceasing fellowship in the gospel that never grows weary. Indeed, Paul could not accept this fellowship in the gospel from the rich saints in Corinth, who were going on badly (see 2 Cor. 11:7-12). What is so precious is that unwearying fellowship that never loses heart – through evil report and good report, through dark days and bright, through poverty and prosperity. That is the fellowship in the gospel that the Philippian saints had.

You remember David made it a rule that those who went down to the battle, and those who tarried by the stuff, should share alike; they were having joint participation in the war (1 Sam. 30:23-25). But gifts are not the only way of showing fellowship in the gospel, for there are countless other ways. Epaphras labored fervently in prayer (Col. 4:12), and we can, too. What a cheer an encouraging letter is! Some hold the belongings of those preaching in the open air; some help with the singing; some bring friends to the meetings. Love of the gospel and of the One who is the theme of it will devise means to have a share in its interests. And, “God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the love which ye have [shown] to His name, having ministered to the saints, and still ministering” (Heb. 6:10).

Sad to say, not all in Paul’s day had fellowship in the gospel. There were those who preached Christ even of envy and strife (Phil. 1:15), supposing to add affliction to the apostle. They probably were real Christians and they preached Christ, but they had not fellowship in the gospel. There have always been such, and there always will be. Let us take heed when we find even true Christians seeking to add affliction to those who preach the gospel rather than having fellowship in the gospel. It is so easy to find fault, and those who do so often know little of the true circumstances. I need hardly add that we cannot have fellowship with what is contrary to the Word. But let us beware lest our criticisms are merely an excuse for our lack of fellowship in the interests of the gospel. Let us each one, beloved, seek more and more to imitate these dear Philippian saints in their fellowship with the gospel! May there be reason for thanksgiving and joyfulness in prayer.

ENDNOTE
* Some say that fellowship, or communion, is the theme of Philippians. In this thought, consider these points in relation to the Philippian believers:

• Fellowship in the gospel (Phil. 1:5)

• Fellowship together in the grace (v.7)

• Fellowship of the Spirit (2:1)

• Fellowship of His sufferings (3:10)

• Fellowship together in affliction (4:14)

• Fellowship in giving and receiving (v.15)

• Fellowship of ministry to the saints (2 Cor. 8:4). This passage refers to the Macedonian saints, which would include those in Philippi.

Fellowship is found here seven times, suggesting perfection. All these use the same Greek word, although translated differently in English. Philippians 1:7 and 4:14 have the little word “together” added, making fellowship together.

By George C. Willis (adapted from “Meditations On Philippians”)

An old gentleman got up once in a meeting and said he had lived nearly all his life on Grumble Street, but not long ago he had moved over on Thanksgiving Street. His face showed it. —D. L. Moody