Philippians 1:3

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,"

How much of our prayers are focused on ourselves? Can we be honest and say that we pray for other people on a regular basis? And with that can we be honest and say that we are thanking God continually for those people?

 

This is something that I am still learning within my own life. I have a list of individuals that I desire to pray for and thank God for every day, but I admit that some days I find myself lacking in this area. Even still, a lot of the time when I do bring them before the Lord I quickly see myself jumping to asking God to reveal to them the sin in their life that I can see so clearly.

While this is not necessarily a bad thing, how many times do I just simply thank the Lord for putting those people into my life as a blessing? This is a challenge that I put before each one of us, that we would give thanks for the people in our lives. I pray that I will see them as more than just a human, but as a person that is made in the image of God and that in all my remembrance of them, meaning every time I pray for them, that I will thank my God in heaven.

Notice that Paul says "my God." This word "my" brings in for us a very personal outlook. Paul here is doing two things:

• First, he is showing us that God is a very personal God. God is not just the Ruler of the universe that we must fear and obey. He is much more than that. God is intimately involved in each of our lives. He knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. Out of every individual that has, is and will ever live God knows us personally and desires us to share in that personal union with Him.

• Second, he is setting an example for us to follow. We are to treat this as fact and live every day of our lives knowing and understanding and comprehending and acknowledging that God is intimately acquainted with each one of us, whether we like it or not. However, Paul wants us to enjoy this and be filled with thanksgiving because God meets us where we are at and relates to us on an individual level.

Look at the wording that Paul uses. What is this remembrance that he is talking about? I believe it is more than just prayer, although he does go on to talk about his praying for them, yet I believe he is thanking God for them every time he remembers them. In his thought process it seems that even in times when they just pop into his mind for a split second and in those times when he is actually praying and having longer lasting thoughts for them, he can't express the thankfulness of his heart enough.

Notice the whole of the verse. What else is he thanking God for? He is thanking God for the work He has done in Philippi. Paul doesn't take any credit for what God has and is doing. What a humble attitude of giving it all to the Lord. Truly we are to renew our minds and our entire thought process is to be God Himself.

1.      Do you thank God for the people He has placed in your life every time you remember them?

2.      Do we humble ourselves and give God the credit for the work He has done through the ministry that He has given unto us?

3.      Even if you have a rough relationship with someone, or for some reason they are hard to love, do you still thank God for that person every time you think of them? If not, then according to God's Word something is wrong in your life.

     
I can almost guarantee that not every single one of these believers were best friends with Paul or that even Paul had the same amount of happiness for each person. We as natural people show different levels of ourselves to different people. It would be absurd to think that everything was just peachy.

These were normal men and women who struggled with normal sin problems. Paul had a fleshly nature just like us, but he realized that even if he didn't always get along with someone they were still a gift from God to him in order to further his growth in the Lord.