Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Quoting scriptures one line at a time in answer to any particular scenario may be helpful but once you let the words out of your mouth, you lose control of how it is received. The person on the listening end will by nature focus on one point or another which holds some interest to them. We do not all use the Holy Spirit to relate scriptures in the same manner.

How dangerous is it to accept this word above and hear only “be careful for nothing” without a proper perspective of the subjective placement of that term in context with the surrounding verses? Nothing is an unrestricted absolute without applied context. It can be a danger in life application.

Look to verse 3 “help those women which laboured with me in the gospel”. Paul calls out the needs of the ministry. Support is requested. Have we lost focus upon that request so soon in viewing verse 6 out of context? Did we think he was finished making that plea and had moved on?

V5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

It would seem that Paul had moved on given that he now speaks to moderation. But has he really moved on or is he hinting about availability of resources? What if Paul is speaking to moderation as an example of making resources, i.e. money, available because it has not been used in indulgences? How many times can you think of when you spent some of your savings on that “special” item that serves only to please your base appetites, only to hear immediately of a worthy need that you can no long support financially?

If you widen your view of scriptures to take in the whole picture you will no longer view one term in one line as an unrestricted absolute.

Or perhaps you do not have to be careful about what you pray for in support of the gospel?

Genesis 24:40 And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house:

Before we get into the particulars of this message, allow me to speak to walk in simple basic terms. Before one can walk, placing one foot before the other, the mind must have some objective which causes the body to act. We act and react without giving much thought to walking but at the root of every movement is an objective, conscious or not.

Now let me expound upon this opening verse and relate it to Walking in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We walk before the Lord in the spirit. So allow me ask, since this is true, how are you to know that wherever you go, that the Lord is still behind you?

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Isaiah 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Knowing His Word is to know Him. Know Him in quality and character so that when you hear to go to the right or to the left, you will know it is His voice. This is first and foremost in walking in the spirit and the three elements that follow are based on this knowing.

The angel is mission protection, prosper is the blessings to succeed on your mission, and most important, you will be given a mission objective, a reason to walk.