01 Lessons From the School Of Prayer (Intro)
Notes
Transcript
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Pray
In your estimation what is our churches greatest need?
(Let them answer.) All of those things mentioned are certainly important and necessary for our churches today. But what we need above all is to know God deeper and better. We think too little of God’s attributes, His marvelous deeds, and His revealed will for us. We too rarely revel in His love or tremble at His holiness. His Word (Christ) doesn’t saturate our conversations or shape our priorities to the degree that it ought too.
J. I. Packer once said “Prayer is the measure of a man, spiritually, in a way nothing else is.” Sincere, heartfelt, biblical prayer is one of the crucial ways we grow in our knowledge of God.
In verses 16-18, Paul gives us a series of simple but important commands. What are they?
Rejoice always
Pray without ceasing
Give Thanks in all Circumstances
Do not quench the Spirit
Do not despise prophecies, but test everything
Hold fast to what is good
Abstain from every form of evil
Lets look at the first one here Rejoice always. This is a common theme in Paul’s writing
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Our lives should be characterized by constant and active expressions of joy in the Lord-the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.
What is joy?
We often confuse joy with happiness. Joy is not an emotion or good feeling. Joy is a deep satisfaction of our soul knowing the one true God and taking pleasure in experiencing His good gifts. It is not based on circumstances in our lives. It is not based on how people treat us. It is important to note that the church in Thessalonica had experienced serious adversity. In fact Paul calls it out at the beginning of this letter:
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
How can believers rejoice always, even during times of dark suffering?
Joy that is unshakeable is only possible because of our hope of eternal life, made possible by Jesus Christ who has reconciled us to our Creator and will return as the victorious King. Romans tells us to rejoice in hope because as Matthew says our reward is great in heaven.
Verse 17 calls us to pray without ceasing, what does that mean?
the NIV renders it as pray continually. It does not mean that all we do is pray. Instead the admonition here is to petition God constantly and persistently for what we need. Pray as the need arises and throughout the day. Think of it this way, Continual prayer is the ongoing reminder the God’s children are always and wholly dependent on their heavenly Father for all things. Remember prayer does not change God, it does change us.
Look at Paul's language in this passage:
Rejoice Always
Pray without ceasing
Give thanks in all circumstances
He is really painting a picture of someone who is solely reliant on God and recognizes this in their life. It is a person that is not hampered by life’s circumstances, but has internalized the truths of our salvation and who God is.
Why are we to rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks always?
Because it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
As we continue this study we will examine how we can “pray without ceasing” by looking at 8 lessons:
We must plan to pray
Adopt practical ways to impede mental drift
If possible develop prayer-partner relationships
Carefully choose models of prayer
Develop a system for prayer lists
Combine praise, confession and intercession
Those in positions of Spiritual leadership should work at their public prayers
Pray until you pray
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