Most wars are instigated and then propagated by those with impure and mostly evil motives. Men fight these fleshly wars to satisfy their own lusts, yet the Christian warfare is ordered of the Lord. Unlike carnal wars, this battle is one of faith. The battle plans are given by the Captain seated in heaven, and these directives must be accepted by faith. In fact, the Bible refers to the warfare that is the Christian life as a “good fight.” At this present time, it is the only war declared with unwavering certainty to be ordered and completely ordained by God. Victories and defeats may not always be as visible, and the toll of wounded or killed will never be reported on the daily news, but the results of this battle have far greater significance than any war fought between two earthly people groups. Every Christian should be willing to fight the good fight of faith.
Our heartfelt giving of thanks should always coincide with our prayers to God. Today's passage from Philippians confirms this truth, as do a host of other passages (Daniel 6:10; Ephesians 1:16; Colossians 1:3; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Timothy 2:1). However, an unthankful spirit always affects one's prayer life eventually developing into a vicious repetitive cycle. A lack of prayer instills a lack of thankfulness. Those who fail to be thankful, fail to cultivate a consistent prayer life. Fortunately, this lack of thankfulness exposes our true problem which is a heart lacking humility. As our heart fills with pride, we fail to realize the goodness of God and our need to continually seek His face with this spirit of thankfulness. The solution involves conditioning ourselves to have a prayer life consisting of a genuine time of thanksgiving. True thankfulness should eliminate many of the prayers consisting of nothing but self-serving desires.
