Pray continually. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
I got an 84 on the test!
I felt my teen’s excitement as I read her message on my phone. She’d just started attending classes at a high school and was using her phone during lunch. My mama heart leaped, not just because my daughter had done well on a challenging test, but because she was choosing to communicate it to me. She wanted to share her good news with me!
Realizing that her text had made my day, I later thought about how God must feel when I reach out to Him. Is He as pleased when I talk to Him? Prayer is how we communicate with God and something we’re told to do “continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Talking with Him reminds us that He’s with us through the good and the bad. Sharing our news with God, even though He already knows all about us, is helpful as it shifts our focus and helps us think about Him. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast [fixed on you], because they trust in you.” We have peace awaiting us when we turn our attention to God.
Regardless of what we face, may we continually speak with God and keep in touch with our Creator and Savior. Whisper a prayer and remember to rejoice and “give thanks.” After all, Paul says, this is “God’s will” for us (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
INSIGHT
1. What do you need to share with God?
2. How can you remember to keep in touch with Him throughout your day?
God’s people have a propensity to be forgetful and unfaithful (see Deuteronomy 6:10-12; 8:11; Jeremiah 3:21-22). Psalm 103 reminds us not to forget God but to remember what He’s done. To ensure that we “forget not all his benefits” (v. 2), the psalmist lists the things God’s done to show His great love for us (vv. 3-19). He calls us to reaffirm who God is and to remember who we are (vv. 8-19). God is compassionate, slow to anger, loving, forgiving, and gracious and “does not punish us for all our sins . . . [or] deal harshly with us, as we deserve” (v. 10 nlt). He’s forgiven all our sins completely for all time (vv. 11-12). The metaphors of withering grass and fading flowers (vv. 15-16) remind us of our mortality and frailty in contrast to God’s eternality and sovereignty (vv. 17-22).
PRAYER
Gracious God, please remind me to stay in touch with You throughout my day. I want to rejoice and give You thanks in all I face. In Jesus name I pray and believe. Amen.
Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 37-38; Colossians 3
