The Fruit of the Holy Spirit - Chapter 6
A Prayer for Peace
There is a very helpful and encouraging verse at the end of Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians. It is chapter 3, verse 16. This is what it says: ‘‘Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way’’.
These words form one of Paul’s prayers for the Thessalonian believers. We are gong to think about this prayer and see how it helps us to understand still more about this peace which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. I trust that this will make us want to allow this wonderful ‘‘fruit’’ to grow in our lives.
Paul says that peace comes from the Lord of peace. There is an exciting verse in Paul’s letter to the Colossians chapter 1 - verse 17. Paul says there that by Christ all things hold together. Through Christ the whole universe is maintained and exists. In Acts chapter 10 verse 36, Peter calls Jesus Christ, ‘‘Lord of all’’.
It is interesting that Paul says ‘‘LORD of peace’’ in that verse from 2 Thessalonians, and not ‘‘GOD of peace’’, as he does in other places. Because He rules and is in control of the world, and if He has control of our lives, we have peace within us.
Then, Paul also says that this peace is a gift: ‘‘The Lord Himself GIVE you peace’’. Jesus Himself said, ‘‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you’’. This peace cannot be worked-up; we cannot strive until we get it. We have to surrender and take it as a gift if we are truly going to experience it.
This is true when we trust the Lord for forgiveness and reconciliation. It is when we realise that He alone can forgive us through His death on the cross, and when we cast ourselves upon Him in faith, that the peace of forgiveness and reconciliation comes.
When we are conscious of our own failure and weakness, and when we surrender utterly and trust Christ for His cleansing and the filling of His Spirit, then we receive the peace that comes through being really one with the Lord.
Then in the storms of life, the trials, testings and problems, peace can really only come as a gift. The more we try to pull ourselves together and make ourselves calm and peaceful, the worse we get. It is the same in our walk with the Lord. We have to stop striving and leave ourselves in God’s hands. We have to commit our troubles and circumstances to Him, and ask Him for His peace. Only so does peace come; not always immediately, it is true, but it DOES come.
Our verse also says that peace can be ‘‘at all times’’. God wants His peace to flow continually through our lives, so that there is an atmosphere of peace around us for others to see. Isaiah chapter 48 verse 14 speaks about ‘‘peace like a river’’ steadily flowing on, and that is what God promises the Christian.
But this verse promises something more. It promises peace in every way, or under all circumstances. This is not so easy to understand or to think as being possible. Can we really have peace no matter what is happening?
Paul speaks in Philippians chapter 4 verse 7 about the ‘‘peace which passes all understanding’’. He says that this peace can guard or protect our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Is such peace really possible, however fierce the storm, however hopeless the circumstances facing us, and however difficult the people are with whom we live or work? I believe it is if we keep our lives yielded to the Lord, and we keep trusting Him.
This does not mean that we will not be hurt; it does not mean that we shan’t be perplexed, confused and despondent sometimes. We have our human feelings and emotions, and life is by no means always easy. But deep down within our hearts we can be at rest and at peace with God.
Psalm 119 verse 165 says, ‘‘Great peace have they that love your law, and nothing can make them stumble’’. Also in the same chapter of Philippians which I quoted before, Paul says, ‘‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances’’. (Philippians 4 v. 11)
Though the winds lash the surface of the ocean, and fierce and mighty waves roll across it, deep down, underneath there is calm. So it can be with the Christian whose trust is in His Lord.
Paul finishes this prayer for peace with the words, ‘‘The Lord be with all of you’’. Do you see the real meaning of this? Peace of all kinds, peace in all circumstances, centres in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one and only source of all true peace. He promises to give it, and we may enjoy it.
We must realise, though, that this peace cannot be our automatically. It does not just happen. We need to constantly trust and obey, to walk closely with the Lord, and listen to the Holy Spirit’s quietest whisper.
There is a verse in Colossians chapter 3, it is verse 15, and it says, ‘‘Let the peace of God rule in your hearts’’. The word ‘‘rule’’ means to act like an umpire or referee. The umpire stops you when you are not keeping the rules. Sometimes we are in danger of breaking the rules in our Christian life, and we lose our peace.
Then, we have to wait on the Lord, seek Him as to the reason why, and whether we are on the right path. He will surely show us. It is so important to have the peace of God in our hearts because life is so different, even in the midst of trouble, when His peace is within!