Pray for the “Peace of God” (Phil.

4:7) – Morning Worship

(Bro. Harold Corkern)

Our text is focusing on the powerful effect that prayer can have on us when it is true prayer,
genuine prayer.
Mere communication with God is not necessarily prayer.
In Genesis chapters 3 and 4, after Adam had sinned, he had dialogue with Jehovah, but it
could hardly be viewed as prayer.
Why? Because prayer involves trust, respect, humility, devotion, and a sense of dependence
on the one to whom the prayer is directed.
Now, just to highlight the importance of trust and prayer’s effectiveness, let’s open our Bibles
to Psalm 91, and we’ll see the important quality of trust highlighted.
Psalm 91, we’ll read verses 1 and 2. “Anyone dwelling in the secret place of the Most High
will lodge under the shadow of the Almighty.” Well, we notice “the secret place,” a place of
spiritual security where no one or no thing can rob us of our faith in Jehovah or our love for
Jehovah.
And it’s secret because unbelievers can’t understand it.
But now, how do we get there? Verse 2: “I will say to Jehovah: ‘You are my refuge and my
stronghold, my God in whom I trust.’ ” So the key of getting into the secret place, the key to
getting the peace of God, is this humility and trust in Jehovah.
And we notice the expression here: “You are my refuge and my stronghold.” In this context,
not ours —while it’s true— but it has to be personal.
And that’s the trust that we have on an individual basis.
And how grateful we are that we have Jehovah’s listening ear, and he hears us because of
something that David said.
We go to Psalm 69 this time, and as we turn here, we’d like to ask you to think, “Have you
ever felt, to a reasonable degree, the same way that David expresses himself here?” He’s
going through a very stressful time, overwhelmed, and in verse 20 of Psalm 69, he says:
“Reproach has broken my heart, “and the wound is incurable.
“I was hoping for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.” So at
times, our fellow believers —our family members even, close friends— they may not be able
to help us the way we need to be helped.
And why is that? Well, for one thing, they may be very busy dealing with their own problems,
and they don’t have the time to really notice.
Or the other factor is that we all have things that differ when it comes to causing us stress.
What is a real stress for one person is not so hard for another.
And if they look on and see someone going through something that they find easy, perhaps
the sympathy will be lacking.
But, nonetheless, verse 33 of this same Psalm says: “For Jehovah is listening to the poor,
and he will not despise his captive people.” Now, in principle, sometimes we may feel
captive to our circumstances or to the feelings that we’re experiencing, to our emotions, to
what we are going through —we feel trapped.

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 Pray for the “Peace of God” (Phil. 4:7) – Morning Worship
(Bro. Harold Corkern)

Other people may not understand or may not be able to help us.
But notice the reassurance in 2 Chronicles 6:29, 30. This is the prayer of Solomon at the
time of the dedication of the temple.
And in 2 Chronicles 6:29 he says: “Whatever request for favor “may be made by any man “or
by all your people Israel “(for each one knows “his own plague and his own pain) when they
spread out their hands toward this house,” so we’re unique.
Other people may not be able to do it.
Why? Verse 30: “Then may you hear from the heavens, “your dwelling place, and may you
forgive; “and reward each one according to all his ways, “for you know his heart “(you alone
truly know the human heart).” So even if our friends care, even if they want to be helpful,
they cannot possibly see the depth of what we’re feeling or what we’re thinking or how it’s
affecting us, but Jehovah does.
He sees right to the heart of the matter, and how reassuring that is.
So we trust him because he really knows us.
But there’s something else involved in this trust.
Matthew 6:33 says: “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these other things will be added to you.” Now, there’s personal trust —trust that Jehovah
knows what I need and that he’s going to, as he always has, provide it.
But there can be a pitfall.
If a person is naturally calm, confident, perhaps has a natural ability, family history that’s rich
—both emotionally, maybe even financially— all of these things can make a person begin to
feel, ‘Yes, I trust in Jehovah, but I can do this myself.’ You know, sometimes we may hear
this expression when we hear of someone that’s being transitioned from one form of special
service, perhaps into the regular pioneer work or they have to leave Bethel for good reasons,
and they have to go back and get some secular work.
Have you ever heard this? “They’re going to do fine because they have marketable skills.”
Now, that’s a good thing.
Perhaps those marketable skills have been developed in pursuing Kingdom interests, and
that’s fine.
But we have to be careful.
Will they be fine because of their skills or because of their continuing to seek first the
Kingdom and they let Jehovah be the one that provides for them? And we’ll have to be
careful too when we use that expression “They’ll have no problem; they have marketable
skills.” What if someone doesn’t? Well, Jehovah takes care of them too.
Amos 7:14, 15, Amos said: ‘I wasn’t a prophet or the son of a prophet.
I was a nipper of figs, a very lowly herdsman, shepherd.’ But Jehovah took him, used him,
and provided for him.
So marketable skills were not the key factor.

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 Pray for the “Peace of God” (Phil. 4:7) – Morning Worship
(Bro. Harold Corkern)

And so we keep that in its proper perspective.

And finally, in imitation of Jehovah, when we try to help people, we want to use the most
powerful tool we have to encourage them and to help them deal with their anxiety.
There was an experience in the February 15, 1988, Watchtower about Brother Arthur
Winkler.
Now, the Gestapo found him, and they beat him without mercy, knocked out his teeth,
dislocated his jaw.
His whole body was raw from the beating, and they threw him in a dark cell.
At that moment, Brother Winkler said, “I was in desperate need of spiritual food, and I prayed
to Jehovah.” And then he talked to the guard and asked him to help him.
The cell door opened and a Bible was thrown in, and he said: “That daily enjoyment of those
pleasant words of truth “were precious.
I felt myself getting stronger spiritually.” So, then, when we go to help people, the best thing
we can do in helping them cope is, not with some often-used phrase or something that is
repeatable all the time, but make sure it is the Bible.
They may feel captive, imprisoned by their situation.
But an account from the Bible —an account of a Bible character that had gone through tough
times and came through— those are the most meaningful things to deal with it.
Perhaps where Paul reviewed all of those things that he went through, and yet years later,
he wrote our day’s text for today, saying Jehovah helped him stay calm and assisted him.
So may these reminders from the Scriptures help us to cope and help others to cope with
anxieties.

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