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Rejoice in the Lord always\u2026The Lord is near! Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4a, 5b-7).

"I have everything I need for joy!" Robert Reed proclaimed. Amazing! His hands are twisted, and his feet are useless. He can't bathe himself. He can't feed himself. He can't brush his teeth or comb his hair. His speech drags like a worn-out audio cassette (sorry, some of you are too young to know of these). Robert has cerebral palsy. His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy.

How can this be? you ask. Robert would tell you that he trusted in God. Seeing that he was not able to handle life an his own, he turned to God for help. He lived into the words of our text. But how did he get to that place? How can you and I get to that place?

Paul\u2019s offer of prayer is not an easy solution; no magic formula here, no bedtime or morning rote repetition of words that we have labelled prayer. We tend to treat prayer as a trip to the grocery store. Walking through the aisles, we pick and choose what we want, go to the cashier, tap our credit card and voila, the store gets its money and we, our groceries.

We expect similar things to happen when we pray. Yet, the first image of prayer in the Bible is an all-night wrestling match. As morning dawns, Jacob\u2019s hip is dislocated but he refuses to let his opponent go until God blesses him.

Ours is a world where kingdoms are in conflict everywhere. We set up our own kingdoms and expect God to bless them. But in prayer, we are invited to address the man crucified as King of the Jews, who is now reconciling the world to himself, and is already making all things new by dismantling all human kingdoms. In prayer, we take the cares which distract our hearts from this truth and cast them before God. We name them before God, getting them off our chests, out of the secret places where they drive us to distraction and depression.

This is wrestling in prayer, passionate, specific, honest, thanking while begging for answers, getting to the place of peace. We begin our prayers with, \u201cGod, help me, I\u2019m in trouble\u201d and end our prayers with, \u201cYour kingdom come.\u201d In between, as we grapple with God, our requests shift from a \u2018me focus\u2019 to a \u2018God focus\u2019. \xa0This shift in focus indicates a change in desire. Our yearnings let go of our own kingdoms as we learn to pray, \u201cyour will be done\u201d.

Earlier, Paul had written, \u201cI eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death\u201d (1:20). In a few verses he will say, \u201cI have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation\u201d (4:12). This is where the journey of prayer takes us; being content in what God gives.

Paul is talking about the serious business of bringing our lives before God, examining our dependence upon him, placing our lives in his hands to be used by him; remembering, and celebrating what God has already done; confessing our needs; and dedicating our gifts; committing ourselves and all that we are to make our cause God's will. \u201cPrayer is yielding life to and leaving it in the safe hands of God.\u201d

As we wrestle with God in prayer, we discover his blessing. His peace enters unseen from backstage. Through we have wrestled with God through the night, we discover it as a gift given, not a thing earned or won. In prayer, we see Christ upon his throne; we see that he has history in his hands; we see that his kingdom is breaking into this world. And by his Spirit he sets our hearts at rest. His peace becomes our shield. He is our shepherd. Though the storms may blow, we believe that he will bring us to refreshing waters and green pastures.

As you journey on (consider these things, know that you), go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.