Devotional #31

Pray without ceasing.

~1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV)

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How often to we obey this verse?? I would venture to say that it's not very often! Of this verse, John MacArthur writes the following in his study Bible: "This does not mean pray repetitiously or continuously without a break, but rather pray persistently and regularly." Of course this verse doesn't mean that we must be in prayer at every single moment of the day. That would not be possible! But we need to always be in the spirit of prayer, so to speak. One practical way to obey this command is to, throughout your daily tasks, to offer up little prayers of thanksgiving and praise, or prayers asking for help, strength, etc. These such prayers aren't audible to other people, but God sure does hear them, and this is a wonderful thing to do to keep yourself close to God, to make your relationship with Him more intimate, and it's a great way to obey this verse. If you find yourself in need of strength, may it be strength to act in a Christ-like and loving way, or maybe strength to be bold and stand up for and preach your Biblical convictions, etc., then just offer up a prayer right then and there. What a comfort and help it is to do this! Once you begin putting this into practice, it will become such a wonderful habit. I often find myself praying to God thanking Him for a little blessing such as a beautiful sunset, or asking for strength, help and guidance, or praising Him for His beautiful and creative creation. It's become such a habit that I don't even consciously think about doing this anymore. It's just become a part of my day to day life. And what a blessing it is! I highly encourage you to put this into practice! It will bring you so much closer to God, and will give you the peace that passes all understanding.

Something else that I'm guilty of doing that shouldn't be the case is whenever someone has said something hurtful to me, or if I'm having a bad day when it may seem that everything is going wrong, or if I'm just really upset and worried about something, the first thing I tend to think is, "What friend can I call to talk to about this?" or "I really really need to go talk to Mom or Dad about this." While it is very very important to talk to your parents when you're going through a tough time, the first person you should run to, even before you talk to your parents about the situation, is your Savior. The first thought we should have when we're in the middle of a tough situation is, "Oh I just can't wait to run to my Savior's arms and pour out my heart in prayer to Him." This ought to be our natural response whenever we face a hard, upsetting or trying time. Our relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ought to be so intimate and close that this would automatically be our first thought. It ought to come naturally. When faced with an upsetting situation we ought to immediately desire to run to Lord's embrace to seek comfort from Him. All too often, though, I'm guilty of not even thinking about running to the Lord for encouragement and strength until after I've allready poured my heart out to my parents or to a likeminded friend about a certain situation. This should not be the case, ladies! Let us begin putting into practice now that whenever we are faced with a hard or trying day, that we immediately run to the Savior's open arms, pour out our hearts to Him, and ask Him for comfort, peace, wisdom and strength. This should be our first response to whatever problem arises. After we've done this, then is the time to go to our parents, pouring out our hearts to them as well, and asking them for advice.

Throughout your days ladies, pray to your Savior "without ceasing". Go to Him daily in prayer. This is so very very important!