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.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (ESV)
The following article, Spiritual Exercises to Make You Strong, is by Dr. Daniel L. Akin. Dr. Akin is Vice President and Dean and Professor of Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Akin has served as dean since 1996 and has also served on the faculty of Southeastern Seminary and Criswell College. He has an extensive speaking ministry and is the author of the forthcoming commentary on 1-3 John in the New American Commentary series.
Pray Unceasingly
There is an intimate connection between verses 16 and 17, for unceasing prayer will almost always produce a joyful heart. A heart full of joy is the result of a heart free of burdens, and a heart free of burdens is a heart comforted by prayer. John Calvin said, “by prayer we dis[1]burden our anxieties, as it were, into his bosom.”
Due to a misunderstanding, however, this verse is often a source of discouragement rather than encouragement. Some people read the verse and conclude that God somehow expects them to be in prayer twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Prayer, by some miraculous means, is to be a moment-by-moment and second-by-second occupation. Of course, this is impossible, and it misses the intent of the text.
The verse challenges us to be constant and consistent in our prayer life. Prayer is to be a regular habit, a close companion. Prayer can be understood essentially as a “breathing exercise.” When we inhale, we listen to the voice of God in His Word through the Holy Spirit’s illumination. As we exhale, we speak back to the Lord sharing our heart, telling Him what is on our mind. The word for prayer “is a general one that implies a worshipful approach to God.” It encompasses all types of prayer.
As we try and establish a good foundation in these basic exercises, I believe we should focus on two particular aspects of this exercise and in this order: praise and petition. We should regularly come into the presence of our Lord praising Him, honoring Him, adoring Him for who He is and all that He has done. We praise him for His person and work. We acknowledge that He alone is God and that He alone is worthy to be praised. Then, we can approach Him who is Father asking for what we need and interceding on behalf of others.
No one has addressed the urgency of prayer with greater passion than Andrew Murray. In his classic The Ministry of Intercession, he reminds us, “Christ actually meant prayer to be the great power by which His Church should do its work, the neglect of prayer is the great reason the Church has not greater power over the masses in Christian and in heathen countries.”
Therefore, let us take time to seriously consider this need. Each Christ-less soul will go down to utter darkness, perishing from hunger, even though there is bread to spare. Unknown millions of souls are dying without the knowledge of Christ. Christians all around us are living a sickly, feeble and fruitless spiritual life. Surely there is a need for prayer. Nothing but prayer to God for help will avail.
Prayer is that incredible conversation which connects earth to heaven and man to God. I do not understand all of its mysteries and how it is that the prayers of finite humans can move an infinite and sovereign God. Many believe a prayer revival is sweeping our land. Recently the $5.5 million World Prayer Center was opened in Colorado Springs for the purpose of praying for world evangelization. In Washington, D.C., 237 churches have come together to pray and crime has reportedly dropped seventeen percent. 7 I admit that I am not sure what to make of all of this. What I do know is that God says pray, and when I pray I become stronger spiritually. I am blessed and God is pleased.
I am convinced that prayer will be your hardest exercise. Scripture teaches this and my own experience con[1]firms it. Why? Perhaps it is because we fail to appreciate or understand the incredible privilege we have. Andrew Murray rightly says, “Throughout Scripture, in the life of every saint, of God’s own Son, throughout the history of God’s Church, God is, first of all, a prayer hearing God.” 8 If He is always listening, and He is, then we should always be praying.
Give Thanks Comprehensively
Here is perhaps one of the most difficult commands in the Bible to obey. The demand seems absurd. There must be a mistake. And yet, there it is: “in everything give thanks. . ..” However, this is one place in Scripture where we dare not stop too quickly. We must take the verse in all of its fullness.
As Paul Harvey is fond to say, we must read “the rest of the story.” And just what do we discover? “This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Now the key is turned. Now the mist begins to lift. Now my sight begins to clear. Note we are to give thanks in all things not for all things. Say thank you that my mother died? Say thank you that my parents are getting a divorce? Say thank you for the terrible accident that left my brother in a coma with a battered and broken body? No! This is not what it says. It says, “Give thanks in. . . .” Call to your aid the perspective of Romans 8:28.
Leon Morris puts it well, . . . “when a man comes to see that God in Christ has saved him, everything is altered. He now realizes that God’s purpose is being worked out. He sees the evidence in his own life and in the lives of those about him. This leads to the thought that the same loving purpose is being worked out even in those events which he is inclined not to welcome at all. When he comes to see God’s hand in all things he learns to give thanks for all things.”
Tribulation is unpleasant. Yet who in the midst of tribulation would not give thanks when he knows that the Father who loves him so greatly has permitted that tribulation only in order that His wise and merciful purpose might be worked out?
John Calvin adds: “For what is fitter or more suitable for pacifying us, than when we learn that God embraces us in Christ so tenderly, that he turns to our advantage and welfare everything that befalls us? …”
This is a special remedy for correcting our impatience— to turn away our eyes from beholding present evils that torment us, and to direct our views to a consideration of a different nature— how God stands affected toward us in Christ. For a lost person to say “thank you” for everything is foolish. For the child of God to say “thank you” in everything is faith.
May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 