Philippians Prayer Model: PPP
Please prayerfully consider God's word:
- "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6).
The Philippians prayer model is:
- Problem
- Pray
- Praise
PPP
All three elements of PPP are present in the scripture.
- "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6).
"Anxious" represents the Problem, the first P. "Prayer and petition" represent Pray, the second P. "Thanksgiving" represents Praise, the third P. It's simple. PPP!
- Problem
- Pray
- Praise
When you perceive a problem (4:6), you pray to God about it (4:6) and then praise God (4:6). This results in:
- peace in Christ's presence
- a gentle spirit which is obvious to all men
Both of these results are plainly visible if you will read the two verses before and one verse after Philippians 4:6.
So, the prayer model is PPP. PPP stands for Problem, Pray, Praise. When we encounter problems, our old corrupt nature1 tempts us to grumble and complain... even though scripture tells us to "do all things without complaining... that we may be seen as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:14-16). Prayerfully consider God's holy words below:
- "Do all things without complaining and arguing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding up the word of life" (Philippians 2:14-16).
When the crooked and perverse world sees how we react to hardship, that we don't complain and argue, but that we point to the word of life... that we respond to hardship with praise... we become a desperately needed light to the dying world. Do you see it? If not, then please pray for understanding.
(Pause for Prayer)
If you adopt PPP as your response to suffering, your life will change... you will be a light to the world.
When you encounter a problem... instead of being upset, you will:
1) Pray
2) Praise
Its PPP!
- Problem
- Pray
- Praise
When a Problem occurs, you Pray about it and then Praise God. Praise Him for who He is, what he has done and will do.
So, there are two steps to follow every time we encounter a Problem. The first thing that we do is Pray a request regarding that problem. Then we Praise Him... PPP.
Praise
Praise is the third P. There is much evil, pain and suffering in this current age. If we dwell on those things in our personal thought life, peace and joy are lost. If we complain about them to others, their peace and joy is injured as well. But, in PPP, peace and continuous joy are received by all, AS WE PRAISE HIM (Philippians 4:4-8)!
We are to praise God continually:
- "Through him, then, let's offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually" (Hebrews 13:15).
Yes, we are to praise God, even as we suffer. You can be Satan's greatest frustration. Every time he brings suffering into your life (remember Job), you turn to God with praise. The result of all Satan's hard work is to cause you to turn to God and praise Him. If he decides to leave you alone, then praise God. Let Satan know, that no matter what he does... YOU WILL PRAISE GOD!
All those around you will be blessed!
By God's power and grace, the PPP in the Philippian Prayer Model can change attitudes and lives.
Now, your are ready to live the Philippians Prayer Model: PPP
Pray on!
An In Depth Study
Please prayerfully consider God's holy words:
- "4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, "Rejoice!" 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:4-8).
All three elements of PPP are present in verse six.
- "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6).
"Anxious" represents the Problem, the first P. "Prayer and petition" represent Pray, the second P. "Thanksgiving" represents Praise, the third P.
When you perceive a problem (4:6), you pray to God about it (4:6) and then praise God (4:6). This results in:
- peace (4:7)
- in Christ's presence ("in the Lord", 4:4... "at hand", 4:5 )
- a gentle spirit (4:5)
- which is obvious to all men (4:5).
All together it is the way to "rejoice always in the Lord" (4:4).
When you encounter tragedy... When evil, deceitful and harmful people invade your lives... how do you respond? Do you dwell on those things for long periods... boiling in anger with griping, complaining and judging? I am embarrassed to say that, for much of my life, I have been the king of complaint. God has forgiven me. But the scriptures above make it abundantly clear that we should respond to adversity with prayer (v 6) and then meditating on things which are "true... honorable... just... pure... etc..." (v 8).
Here is verse eight again:
- "Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things."
What is more true, honorable, just and pure than God? What is more lovely, of good report and virtuous than God? In other words, we are to meditate on what God is, what He has done and what He will do. So... we are to praise God. Paul ends his list with the word "praise", as this one word indicates no specific object of praise but instead, fully incorporates the previous seven. In fact, Hebrews 13:15 tells us to praise God continually. So, every time we encounter a problem, we are to praise God... for what He is, has done and will do!
I suggest that you offer your praise audibly, so Satan can hear you. Let Satan know that every time he persecutes you he will have to listen to lavish praise from your lips to your God2. As you praise God audibly, you let Satan and all of the demons in the spiritual realm know that suffering in your life results in praise, praise, praise. Let Satan know that the results of all his hard work in your life culminate in praise to your God! That is a foretaste to Satan of what will come when his works are judged according to the book of Revelation.
How did I hear of PPP?
As I was preparing to lead a Bible study prayer group on Philippians 4:4-8, I asked God to give me a way to transform the group so that that scripture would become our way of life. In that moment, PPP entered my mind.... Problem, Pray, Praise. We started by doing it together, in our next meeting. We change together. As each of us adopts the Philippians prayer model, PPP, we help each other to change.
So, how do we do this in a prayer meeting?
While the remainder of this page focuses on PPP in a group setting, those who pray alone will benefit from it as well. So, please continue reading. In your prayer group, one person briefly mentions a problem to God, briefly prays a request to God about that problem, and then praises God. This may take a minute or two. Then another person in the group does the same thing:
- briefly mention a Problem to God
- Pray a request about that problem
- Praise God abundantly
Then the other members of your prayer group do the same thing. You may take turns in your group in a clockwise fashion or pray spontaneously. Each person may pray one or more times. This may go on for five minutes, thirty minutes or for hours.
In this process, a habit is established regarding what Christians do when a Problem appears. We Pray and Praise. Its PPP... every Problem results in Prayer and Praise to God.
On your first time to pray the Philippians Prayer Model as a group, you may want to prayerfully read and discuss Philippians 4:4-8 first. Then explain PPP and begin.
Goal
Spend very little time talking to God about the problems. Spend more time praying about the problems. Spend the most time praising God.
Summary of PPP
- Problem
- Pray
- Praise
You can combine PPP with other prayer methods like prayer acrostics and prayer starter words. I will briefly present both of those now.
Combine PPP with Prayer Acrostics
I will show you what I mean using the prayer acrostic, FOLLOW CHRIST. FOLLOW CHRIST is acrostic 1 and is fully described, from the scriptures in subchapter 4.8.
Each of the twelve letters in the acrostic F.O.L.L.O.W. C.H.R.I.S.T. represents the main idea behind each of those twelve Endorsed Prayers.
F: Faith
O: Open
L: Lead
L: Love
O: One
W: Words
C: Confession
H: Harvest
R: Revelation
I: Intimacy
S: Sovereignty
T: Thanks
Prayers in the acrostic F.O.L.L.O.W. C.H.R.I.S.T.
F: Increase our Faith!
O: Open a door for the word!
L: Lead me to the Rock!
L: Increase our Love!
O: Make us One!
W: Give me Words to present the Gospel!
C: Forgive me!
H: Send workers into the Harvest!
R: Reveal yourself!
I: Draw me into your Intimate presence!
S: You have a Sovereign plan for today!
T: Thank you!
The first prayer in this acrostic is F, Increase our Faith. So, here is how I would combine this acrostic with PPP in a prayer group. I might pray this prayer:
Lord, my friend David has an important test coming up. His future career path will be determined by his performance on this test and he is afraid (Problem). Lord, please multiply David's faith one thousand fold. Then he will have no fear. Jesus said "why are you afraid oh you of little faith?" So, please multiply David's faith one thousand fold again and again and again (Prayer). I praise You for what You will do (Praise). Whether David passes the test or not, I believe that You will multiply his faith. You will "work all things for good" for David because he loves You and is called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). You will lead David in accordance with your will regarding his career path, whether he passes this particular test or not.
Now you try. Combine PPP with each of the Endorsed Prayers in the acrostic FOLLOW CHRIST.
Combine PPP with Prayer Starter Words
In your prayer group, you can mention starter words to stimulate prayer and help them to improve their problem response habits. Tell them that you will mention a word and ask them to offer a prayer about that word using the Philippians Prayer Model, PPP. For example, say:
Politician
Then someone in the group might pray. "Lord our politicians have difficult decisions to make now (Problem). Please guide them (Prayer). I praise You because You will work Your will through their decision, whether it is for blessing on the righteous or judgement on the persecutors of Christ (Praise).
Here are some other prayer starter words you may try:
Corrupt politician, dictators, unbelievers, cancer, marriage, war, educational system, immorality, church leaders, unity, anger, fear, depression, grumbling, complaining, confession, Google, Facebook, internet, weather, money, TV, cell phones, elementary school teachers, university professors, evolution, naturalism, pantheism, atheism, students, false doctrine, pregnancy, prayer, son, daughter, food, shelter, war, faith, love, joy, peace, patience, hospitality, etc.
Also try: God's word, will, presence, gifts, Holy Spirit, angels, people, creation, holiness, perfection, sovereignty, kingdom, justice, judgement, second coming, timing etc.
You can also use all of the words in the acrostic FOLLOW CHRIST as prayer starter words: Faith, Open doors for the word, multiply our Love, etc. In all there are nine prayer acrostics in this book. So, there is no shortage of acrostics and prayer starter words to combine with PPP. To see the other eight prayer acrostics, see subchapter 4.8 titled, "Prayer Acrostics: Kings, Follow Christ, The Way and Power". Click here to open that page.
It's simple. Just mention a prayer starter word and ask the group to pray about that word using PPP.
Anytime you feel anger or fear its time for PPP. Mention the Problem to God. Pray a request to God about that problem. Then Praise God.
Its as simple as PPP! And its the power of faith and scripture to change lives, churches and nations!
Power 3 in 1 Meeting
The Power 3 in 1 Meeting combines:
- Three intimate scripture readings from subchapter 1.1
- Three standard discussion questions
- Three part Philippians Prayer Model, PPP
A Power 3 in 1 Agenda and Leader's Guide are available. You may provide the agenda to attendees better control the flow of the meeting. You may print the agenda on paper or simply provide them a link to read on their phone. Click below for the agenda and leader's guide. There is also a link for starter words which you may provide to attendees as a prayer catalyst.
Footnotes:
1) Ephesians 4:20-22
2) For more information see subchapter 5.2 titled, "Sources of Suffering and the Role of the Holy Spirit". Also see micro-subchapter 3.1L titled, "Interaction Between God and Satan in the Spiritual Realm".