Welcome back to the podcast on this holiday week.

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving for us here in the States and in Canada.

And we'd like to take these moments to take up the theme of Thanksgiving in the Apostle

Paul's letters, which is a major theme for him.

Last Thanksgiving a year ago, I mentioned that the Apostle Paul mentions thanks about 50

times in his epistles.

A leading to one of my favorite quotes acclaimed by New Testament scholar David Powell, who once

wrote and he's quoting Paul Schubert here, quote, the Apostle Paul mentions the subject

of thanksgiving more frequently per page than any other Hellenistic author, pagan or Christian.

In quote, Thanksgiving was always on Paul's lips.

And it was on his lips when he was talking about prayer and anxiety too.

In Philippians chapter four, verse six, Paul writes this quote, do not be anxious about

anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, but your requests

be made known to God.

In other words, pray your way past anxiety and pray your way into Thanksgiving.

Here's Pastor John to explain.

Let's go to chapter four, verses six and seven.

Very famous, very precious, and more embedded in the big picture of this letter than you

may have thought.

I want to draw out from verses six and seven of chapter four how it relates to the big

things Paul is trying to do in this letter.

So now finally, for the first time, he exhorts them to pray.

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