I Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always,
Pray without ceasing,
Give thanks in all circumstances;
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We've reached the end of this 40 Day Prayer season. On behalf of Promise Bible Study and all those who were part of making this happen, I thank you for carving out a time in your day for this commitment, and for joining in one Spirit, as the Body of Christ, praying over ourselves, each other, our loved ones, and the nations.
We began our prayer commitment with The Lord's Prayer - the disciples of Jesus asking Him for instruction on how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13/Luke 11:1-6). This 40 day journey has taught me a lot about prayer: how important it is to dialog with our Father; how strengthening it is for faith, hope, and joy; how miraculous the outcomes are when you ask with a sincere, fervent heart (James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.")
This indeed has made me yearn to pray without ceasing, making my whole life a prayer - my life as a dialog with the Lord; my life as a testament to faith and joy; my life a witness, a catalyst for gifts and miracles of the Holy Spirit. The more I pray, the more I WANT to pray.
The Lord is listening. He wants communion with us:
John 15:7 "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."
Matthew 21:22 "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith"
To deepen our relationship with Him, to receive more and more of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we continue to pray, with a heart of gladness:
Colossians 4:2 "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving."
Ephesians 6:18 "Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication."
Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
And don't be worried if you don't exactly know what to say. The Spirit will guide you:
Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
When we come to the Lord, may it be done with rejoicing, for with Whom are we speaking? The God of the universe! And who has taught us how to do so? The Redeemer, our Savior, Teacher, Healer, our High Priest! And what is with us at all times? His Spirit within us! Even in trial, how could we not rejoice over this!? And forget not the great gift of his Word: ("I rejoice at Your word, As one who finds great spoil" Psalm 199:162).
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!"
Psalm 92:4 "For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands."
The world is heavy, confusing. But in this "prison", let us be like the apostles, praising God even in chains, for doing so not only strengthens us, but we witness to others the joy and power of being in Christ. The world needs hope, and we have it. Therefore, rejoice! and give someone else reason to be joyful.
Acts 16:23 "But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." Others are watching, wondering where our joy comes from.
1 Peter 4:12-13 "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation." Through trial may the revelation of Christ be even greater.
Hebrews 10:34 "For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one." We know that everything we have here is only a speck compared to what awaits us.
Acts 5:41 "So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name." God has chosen US to bear witness to Him - what an honor!
Let us not forget that every breath we take is from God - is of God. Let every breath be a prayer, a praise, a request unto Him. ("Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD." Psalm 150:6)
Personally, I have been transformed by this prayer commitment, which has worked my "prayer muscle" and brought me into deeper communion with Him, not to mention with my fellow prayer warriors and church/community members. I've walked through scripture like never before, and I have seen incredible miracles take place in my personal relationships and circumstances.
The commitment continues but shifts gears: we will now be dedicating 31 days to Praise! I will post more information on this soon. As part of of our praise season, we will be collecting and posting Praise Reports, so that we can all celebrate with each other the workings of the Holy Spirit as an outcome of this prayer experience. More information will follow, but please don't hesitate to ask questions and send in your testimonies and stories to: promisebiblestudy@gmail.com.
Deep gratitude to all those who are walking this sacred journey together; have a blessed Passover and Resurrection season!
ABIDE IN HIM!