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.
One important aspect of submission to the Lord involves submitting to one another. Grasping this important truth would solve many of the problems in the world, home, and church. The Bible tells us that the younger are supposed to submit to the elder (1 Peter 5:5). Husbands and wives are to submit to each other (Ephesians 5:21-22; Colossians 3:18). Christians are to submit to those who labour in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:16), and those who rule over them (Hebrews 13:17). Instead of fighting for authoritative positions, we should first seek opportunities to submit ourselves to others for the glory of God. A pride-filled heart remains the biggest stumblingblock in the way of full submission.
