Pray Always

Our scripture for today is 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Friends, those are some tall orders!  Be joyful always!  Pray continually!  Give thanks in all circumstances!  How in the world can we even begin to fulfill these?

I offer food for thought from my own experience.

I was really sad last week.  Something bad happened to someone in my family.  The bad thing was caused by a terrible choice she made.  Her choice impacted several family members and could have long lasting consequences. This choice hurt others.  The repercussions could reverberate for a long time. I cried.  I begged God to make it go away, to let it not be true, but the hurt was real.  I felt pain, sorrow, and fear of the consequences.  I begged God for help.  For a while that morning I just wanted God to be like a Genie in a bottle and to make it all go away.

I cried and I asked God for help.  I battled my emotions but kept asking God for help. As I continued to pray, God calmed me down.  Just thinking the prayer “Help me, God,” did help.  With that simple prayer I began to calm down.

Next, in my calm, I prayed a thankful prayer.  I thanked God that my loved one was alive and well physically.  I thanked God for His great love and the gift of life and family.  I thanked God for lessons to be learned through mistakes.  I thanked God for being there with us in this turmoil.  I thanked God for loving us so much.  I thanked God IN this bad circumstance; not FOR it!

I prayed any time the thought of the mess crossed my mind that day.  I prayed continually!  And as I prayed, I reconnected with my joy, with God’s LOVE!

As I went through the day, prayer by prayer, I felt comfort.  I let go of wishing for control.  I prayed for God’s will and continually thanked him for his great LOVE.  By day’s end I felt wrapped in God.  The feeling made me joyful, so I prayed more.

The situation did not magically disappear.  There was a mess to deal with, hard feelings to overcome, and pain to pass through.  But I was in lock step with God.  The advice from 1 Thessalonians worked.  By recalling all I had to be thankful for and giving thanks to God IN the middle of the mess, I was drawn to pray continually, and as I prayed, JOY filled my heart and mind and I turned it all over to God. 

Let’s pray together now…  

Thank you, great and loving God.  Thank you for loving us, and for walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death.  Thank you for coming to earth and living as a man so you know what we feel and what we need to grow more like you.  Thank you for lessons learned, hardships overcome, and pain healed!  Thank you for the joy of knowing and trusting in you!  Thank you for the healing power of continual prayer that rewards us with unbelievable JOY in all circumstances!  Amen!

Today’s podcast was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.