Always
be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God
because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.
I
Thessalonians 5:12-18
In this letter (which may have been the first of the New Testament writings), Paul instructs the Christians of Thessalonica how they should live. His advice is not easy to follow. One of the hardest is to be joyful and thankful in all circumstances.
When life brings
trouble-conflict at home, school, work, church: sickness, pain, and
death; personal, financial, world crises of one kind or another-it is
practically impossible to feel joyful; though I cry out to God for
help, I find the idea of thanking God, no matter what, beyond me.
The key may be in the word
"feel." Though I don't feel thankful, by the power of the
Holy Spirit, I can be thankful. Like love and joy, thankfulness does
not depend on how I feel. The love that desires for the other what I
desire for myself results in action I may not feel like doing, but
which tries to follow the example of Jesus. Joy results from the
conviction that God works in and through everything that happens.
Love, joy, and thankfulness are volitional, not emotional.
When, by God's grace, I thank
God for the faith that enables me to pray, and that Christ walks
beside me in joy, sorrow, or despair, that the Holy Spirit prays for
me, that nothing can separate me from the love of God, I can then
express my confession, complaints, petitions, and intercessions,
knowing that God hears and answers.
Gracious and merciful God,
help me to remember to be prayerful at all times, no matter what.
Grant me grace to learn from all that happens and to witness to your
goodness. In the name of our redeemer Christ. Amen.
Ginnie Spurr, 1996
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