Prayer Walk: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Week 2)
A Heart Filled With A Verse
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
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Prayer Walk Intro (Week 2)
A prayer walk keeps our attention focused on God and who He is to us. A deepened prayer walk helps us fully focus on the One who can do all things. So, how do we deepen our prayer walk??
We make sure we are continually praying!!
Friends, God is near, always listening. (Psalms 145:18, 1 Peter 3:12) We can be certain He hears our prayers! He is dependable, capable, and approachable whenever, wherever, and as often as need be.
There is power in prayer, and it changes us!
Paul knew this, and in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 he reminds Believers to pray without ceasing. It’s a habit we choose. AND…when we choose to constantly be in communication with the One who knows us best, the One who promises to always be there, our relationship grows!
Prayer Walk: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Week 2)
The book of 1 Thessalonians is a letter, from Paul & Timothy, to the church at Thessalonica. The church had just started a few years prior, and they are writing to the first-century Christians to help encourage and grow their faith. As fellow Believers, we can glean a lot out of this 5 chapter letter. The words they wrote to these young believers can also help to strengthen our walk with the Lord, no matter how long we’ve been a Christian.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
With faithful work, loving deeds, and enduring hope (1:3), our purpose, as Believers, is to please God (2:4). As we live holy lives (4:7), we need to stay alert (5:6). We need to be about His business, encouraging and building each other up (5:11), just like Paul & Timothy did! When we do these things our faith grows, our walk with the Lord is strengthened, and our prayer walk deepens. When this happens we can really live out verses 16 through 18 – the will of God! We can rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in everything, because God will be at the core of it all.
Pray Without Ceasing
It’s cool to find that before we make it to the last chapter in 1 Thessalonians, where we find this week’s spotlight “prayer walk” Bible verse, Paul sprinkled in examples of how to pray without ceasing for us!! (Don’t you just love how God shows up, and points out cool things like this?!?) Check this out…
Paul starts out in 1:2 saying He’s praying constantly.
Then, in 2:13 he mentions he never stopped praying,
and in 3:10 he goes on to state he prays night and day,
But, he doesn’t stop there!
He tops it off in 5:17 when he tells us to never stop.
Oh, but it gets better…
He ends by asking the church to pray!!!!
Prayer is on Paul’s mind, and he’s letting us know it!!! Not only does Paul fill the pages of 1 Thessalonians with examples of how he and Timothy are living out their own deep prayer walk, but he also mentions that they ask others to pray for them. This is huge!! They know the importance of prayer, because they believe in the power of prayer!
As I read through this book of the Bible, it got me pumped to work on my own “pray without ceasing” attitude. I believe in the power of prayer, but I know there’s improvement needed in my own prayer walk. I want to live this prayerful attitude out to the fullest! How about you?!
My Life Application Study Bible notes shed some light behind the meaning of “never stop praying”, and I think it’s important to understand how this type of attitude plays out in every day life, so I’m sharing it here for you.
“We cannot spend all our time on our knees, but it is possible to have a prayerful attitude at all times. The attitude is built upon acknowledging our dependence on God, realizing His presence within us, and determining to obey Him fully. Then we will find it natural to pray frequent, spontaneous, short prayers. A prayerful attitude is not a substitute for regular times of prayer but should be an outgrowth of those times.“
Life Application Study Bible, ©2004, p. 2047
As we embrace what Paul is telling us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 remember we have to believe in it and we have to work at it. We have to give our hearts to God and commit to building a genuine, honest relationship with Him. That’s the first step! Once we do this, trust in our Heavenly Father will come. We’ll begin to wholeheartedly believe He is near. Our belief, and dependence, will grow stronger and deeper the closer we get to Him! This kind of closeness will help us understand the importance of prayer and we can then work on living out our own…
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING ATTITUDE!
Staying in constant communication with our Creator does wonders for our hearts. Friends, I’m talking about A HEART FILLED moment right here!! It’s amazing how many heart filled moments we can have when we choose to walk closer with Jesus!!!
Lean into His presence, follow His guidance, and shoot those arrow prayers up as often as you need to.
Remember, open communication with the Lord means we can talk to Him whenever, wherever, and as often as need be! Why? Because He is dependable, capable, approachable, and ALWAYS NEAR!
Forever Rely On God
Wanna keep exploring this topic?!?
Make sure to come back next week for another Bible verse devotion that’ll help encourage your prayer walk with the Lord! For more on today’s topic, check out A Heart Filled With A Verse post – Devoted Prayer.
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