Prayer is one of the essential tools for us to prepare, and when facing opposition, even knowing that sometimes, finding a minute to focus on prayer is hard. In such a demanding world, we must take time to pray and allow our Father to guide us daily and every second of our thoughts to align ourselves with the Creator.
Our lives are busy, our demands are enormous, and we are always going in every direction but to the Father. We can also run with what we know and forget that Whom we know knows everything. Our busy lives can distract us from our most important and memorable time with our loving Heavenly Father.
Scripture calls us to walk differently and “Pray without ceasing.” Prayer isn’t just to ask our Father for requests; it is helpful to align our minds and hearts so that we can communicate with our Father and learn His voice in our lives.
“Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV)
Just think about that for a second. In these verses, we can see how God is reminding us to rejoice, pray, and Give Thanks at all times because that is God’s will for our lives in Christ Jesus. Paul reminds us of three instructions leading to one resounding truth in these verses: Be Joyful, Pray Without Ceasing, and Be Thankful In Every Circumstance.
BE JOYFUL-“Rejoice at all times.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, NIV)
It’s easy to be joyful in the good times, but when the waters start stirring up, the waves cover the hope you had in your line of sight, water ingresses your vessel, and reality sets in. Is joy your first option? By this point, many of us would’ve prayed a million times over, but was there joy in knowing that you may not make it out of that storm?
In the book of John, Jesus tells his disciples this: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). What has to be added is that Jesus already knew what was to happen with His life, and by the time He said this, He had already spoken about the death and betrayal that was to come. He knew the storms He passed through yet were ahead of all of them, and he wasn’t telling them to burden them but to prepare them for what was ahead. Jesus was telling His disciples so they wouldn’t be caught by surprise but so that His Joy may be in them.
Today, because of the Holy Spirit present in us, we can rejoice knowing that our joy is full because of Christ, not our circumstances.
PRAY WITHOUT CEASINGS – Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NIV)
Before understanding why we are called to pray without ceasing, we must look at what would cause us to cease prayer or not seek His guidance because it serves as a good starting point when we lack faith or even what to say.
Angry at God? Maybe you don’t trust Him? Fear of God? Perhaps He will respond differently than you want and may ask you to do something you don’t want to. Whatever the reason, that could be a great starting point for our prayers. Father, I am angry and don’t know what to do. I need you, and keep knocking. When we cease our prayer and communion with the Father, we are depriving ourselves of experiencing His love for us and showing our lack of faith in Him.
It may be hard to accept, but if our hope is not in Christ and His finished work on the cross, then we are not only in the world but in the world. In Luke 18:1- 8, Jesus tells His disciples a parable about a widow’s persistence in prayer and why it was essential to help her in her situation. It speaks about a judge and a widow and how the unjust judge grants the widow’s request due to her persistence. She would return and say, “Grant me justice against my adversary,” sure enough, because of her tenacity, the judge granted her plea. The judge didn’t fear God or seem to care about what others thought; her persistence drove Him to grant what the widow was requesting. After Jesus says the parable, he emphasizes that God will bring justice to those who cry out to Him and highlights the importance of faith in prayer.
“Praying without ceasing” does not mean being in a constant state of verbal prayer; it means praying and not giving up because of your faith in the Father responding to your plea.
THANKFUL IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE – “Give thanks in every circumstance.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18a, NIV)
Thankfulness grows from the understanding that HE is working it all out for His children. Thinking about how Jesus would talk about His Heavenly Father or cry out to Him is priceless, and it is essential to go deeper in understanding that if we are to be like Christ, then living a life grateful for the Father’s work in our lives.
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “. (Matthew 11:25-26)
Jesus was entrusted by the Father to break the chains of the flesh and show us the way, and today, we are entrusted and empowered to follow Christ. Jesus can help us understand the Father’s will for our lives. We know that Jesus prayed to the Father and told us to do the same because the Father will reveal truths to those He chooses in due time. Knowing that it’s His Will doesn’t make it easy; it just helps in knowing that He has got us.
“Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17
I don’t know what you are thankful for, but knowing that He is with us, paid it all for us, and is still meeting us in our situations today should fill our hearts with gratitude. I am thankful because God trusted us with our difficult moments, and I am even more grateful to know that He is with us through it all and that nothing is too big or small for our loving Father.
GOD’S WILL FOR US- “…for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. (1 Thessalonians 5:18b, NIV)
Jesus prayed the Father’s Will in everything and then would walk in obedience. You may ask yourself why. However, since the garden, we have tried repeatedly to “walk in obedience” to the Father’s Will and instructions and failed, but Jesus didn’t. He overcame sin and death; today, he wants to help us. He modeled prayer and lived His life for the Father’s purpose so we can be free and step into this journey with Him. It starts when we say we believe in Christ and what He did on the cross at Calvary. Then, the journey of God’s will for us takes over.
Jesus stated that “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”(John 5:19)
If Jesus, the Son of God, states that He can not do anything by himself, why would we? Jesus is simply talking about a relationship that multiplies not our will but the Father’s Will and gives a whole new meaning to this saying, “Like Father, Like Son” or “The apple never falls far from the tree.”
I don’t know where all the apples will land, but the truth is that we should pray consistently in faith, knowing that He will respond. Our Heavenly Father wants us to invite His Holy Spirit into every decision. Jesus molded prayers of thanksgiving, strength, and forgiveness in solitude and with multitudes. He taught us how to pray and what to pray against, and in all that, we see Jesus breaking the flesh and realigning himself in conversation with the Father.
The resounding truth is that we are called to “Pray without ceasing” in Christ because it is our Father’s will for us. It may be a challenge for any follower of Christ to understand or embrace certain situations fully. That’s where it all starts: tension or not needing to understand but instead embracing our need for Him as we GO.
In Christ, our joy will be full as we pray without giving up and are thankful because He wants to be in communion with us. Be Joyful, Pray Without Ceasing, & Be Thankful In Every Circumstance: That’s His Will for us in Christ.
-Rafael Then Gea
