Prayer
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1
This is such a
beautiful passage that Paul wrote in one of his early letters to encourage
believers in Thessalonica to continue to stand strong despite the persecutions
they were facing. “Rejoice always”, is to
have a joyful attitude in all things, to “Pray
without ceasing,” always be in communication with our Father in
Heaven. Unceasing prayer is
communion with God. “Give thanks in all
circumstances” is thanking the Lord for what he has done. Rejoicing and being thankful
during difficult circumstances is a tough one to swallow but I don’t believe
this is asking us to be jumping for joy over our hard times.
Notice that right
in the middle of ‘rejoice’ and ‘give thanks’ is ‘prayer’, unceasing
prayer. When we pray in this way
we are living in constant awareness of His presence in our lives. When we are
in constant prayer with the Lord it is taking our eyes off of our circumstances
and on to our Almighty powerful God!
“For
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” it is God’s will for us to rejoice, pray and give thanks.
Several years ago
I struggled with a series of health issues and it propelled me to a deeper more
intentional prayer life. I am not happy that I had to go through that but
Romans 8:28 says “And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”
Are you in
the spirit of ‘praying without
ceasing’? How can you be more intentional in your prayer life to encounter the
peace that we can only have by being present in His presence daily?
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