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Exceedingly Great Joy: PRAY With Joy! (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the November 16, 2025 sermon, “Exceedingly Great Joy: PRAY With Joy!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Philippians 1:1-11

 

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
Colossians 4:2 (NIV)

Today, we begin a sermon series through Philippians about Exceedingly Great Joy and we lay the foundation with prayerful joy!  Even as a prisoner himself, Paul knew the secret to the exceedingly great joy expressed by the Magi and he sought to instruct the Philippians, and us, about how to live with such joy.  At the heart of living with exceedingly great joy is the need for each of us to . . .

  • Partner with joy:  Philippians 1:3-6

    • Prayer is a partnership of us choosing to align our self with God, and therefore growing in joy at the success of others.  As Paul prayed for the Philippian believers, he was filled with joy because of their partnership with him in the gospel.  When we allow God to be in control of our life, we ought to grow in our understanding of how our partnership with others aids in the spread of the gospel.  We pray with joy when we partner with others in sharing the good news of Jesus. 

  • Receive with joy:  Philippians 1:7-8

    • Praying involves receiving from God that which only He can give.  Even when we receive from others, we acknowledge in prayer how God is the One who ultimately provided that which was needed.  When we humble our self to receive from others, we recognize how God uses each of us to  be a blessing to someone else.  We pray with joy when we humbly receive from God and from others.

  • Ask with joy:  Philippians 1:9-10

    • Perhaps the most common aspect of praying is when we ask God for what we need, want, or desire.  Because we don’t always know what we ought to ask for, it can be easy to become disillusioned with prayer when our asking doesn’t produce the desired results.  Paul’s asking was not for any of the things you might expect to ask for given similar circumstances.  Rather, he asked for God to meet the spiritual needs necessary for the growth of faith in the lives of the believers.  We pray with joy when we learn to unselfishly ask for God to provide for others the things which only He can provide.

  • Yield with joy:  Philippians 1:11

    • For prayer to be meaningful and effective, it is important that we are willing to yield to the will of God in all circumstances.  We can partner, receive, and ask all that we want but when we refuse to yield, all of those aspects of prayer become very self-centered.  Jesus taught by example that we should pray for God’s will to be done in all things, especially when our will does not yet align with His.  We pray with joy when we yield and experience the goodness of God’s plans far exceeding our own.

Today, how will you PRAY with joy?