A Declaration Notice

Notices come in the form of sign or sound, in written word or in spoken word. Here are some examples to consider.

The huge billboard sign has been erected giving notice declaring that in a few months a new hotel will be erected. On the door of the restaurant, hangs a sign declaring that it will no longer be serving, Thursday Specials. Or, one day, the landlady comes and says this to you. I am giving you three months advance notice. I am no longer renting my apartment. However you take it, declaration notices come to us mostly in these two forms. Written words – signs, notes, letters, texts and suchlike – all seeing, visible forms. They also come in spoken words – voice messages, face to face talk – all hearing, audible forms. Whichever form is used and however it is, together or singly, the one intention, the one purpose is to declare something.

Here are some undisputed facts about a declaration notice. The person who is giving the notice wants it to be seen, heard and known. Moreover, that person ensures that it is presented simply and without ambiguity, because the notice must be understood. A declaration notice therefore, if in written word, is clean, free of blots and scratches; evenly spaced out and not jumbled up; bold and big enough for it to be easily read. If the declaration notice is in spoken word, it is also clear, free from static, outside interferences and other noises that will cause it to be distorted, misunderstood or not heard at all.

The point being made is simply this. If you are making a declaration notice, you will ensure that you tell it or write it, so that it is clear to all. Will you not make it so that none reading it or hearing it will have any problems, queries, concerns or doubts about what has been declared? Indeed, people may not agree with you, but that does not negate the fact that they understood what was declared.

When you make a declaration, you are stating what you intend to do, or what you have already done. When, in the matrimony ceremony, the officiating person says, I declare or pronounce you husband and wife, it means that it has already been done, and it is for the couple to now live freely, in this declared truth. In others words, they have been legally, lawfully and lovingly bound together in this declaration, and it is now up to them to accept it all and live all the benefits of people who are one in marriage. 

Much time has been taken to bring all these to you and to get you thinking on the truth of a declaration notice, so that when it comes to God, we are without hesitation or doubt.

Yesterday, this familiar text was quoted. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God: and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 6 – 7. Paul, the apostle of the Lord, who counted all things loss, for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, is well placed to make this declaration about God and prayer.

I offer it as a declaration notice to all of us, who are the Church of our Lord, Jesus, for this is Paul’s declaration notice concerning prayer, to the Church. It is a declaration notice to all, not just some who hold important, high offices in the Church. In other words, it is a declaration to the priests in the pulpits and the parishioners in the pews. It is for the learned and the unlearned, as Paul makes no distinctions in his congregation, concerning anxiety. This was a specific time in the life of the Church family, when all sorts of trials, tribulations, fears, cares, and worries plagued the believers. It is the same for us today, for who among us is free from the things which cause stress and anxiety?

As obtained in the Church at Philippi, so it is with us today. We need also to fully receive this declaration notice concerning God and prayer. This word of declaration is not just needed, but it is a life-saver, if you ask me, for each of us who will accept it.