Section 8
anxiety is for the purpose of keeping us calm and tranquil.
In Philippians 4:6 Paul charges us, "In every thing, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." The words "in everything" refer to the many differ ent things which happen to us day by day. Under the Lord's blessing, many positive things hap pen, and we hear good news. However, we also experience negative things and hear bad news. Nevertheless, in everything by prayer and peti tion with thanksgiving, we should make our requests known to God. Prayer is general with the essence of worship and fellowship; petition is special for particular needs. Notice that Paul says "with thanksgiving," not "and thanksgiving." This indicates that both our prayer and petition should be accompanied by thanksgiving to the Lord.
It may seem easy to understand Paul's word, "Let your requests be made known to God." But we should not take this word for granted, assuming that we understand it. I have spent considerable time studying the phrase "to God." It may also be rendered "before God" or "in the presence of God." The Greek preposition is pros, often translated "with" (John 1:1; Mark 9:19;