Pray Without Ceasing

Before we start sorry for the delay in getting posted. My Internet went down at home last night so I had to save posting this till this morning. Now to your regularly schedule Blog.

Prayer: Lord thank you as always for your grace and mercy and all the blessings you have granted in my life. Father I ask that you give me a heart for prayer and a greater love for spending time in your presence. In Jesus name, Amen

Verse of the Day: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18(ESV)

Worship Song of the Day: Give Us Clean Hands by Charlie Hall

As I was going through my day Thursday I kept thinking about the above verse and realized I have an easier time with rejoicing always than I do with praying without ceasing or giving thanks in all circumstances. For some reason prayer is one of those areas of my relationship with Christ I haven't spent nearly enough time on. Even in my quite time I spend more time reading the word or worshiping than I do just having a conversation with God. I started to dwell on how to have a more prayerful life and where that starts.

I think sometimes that we might think God doesn't need to be bothered about the little things in my daily life, but in reality God desires to hear from us always. He has called us into relationship with him. Like any parent he wants to hear from his children frequently. What God seems to be revealing to me about that is if your not willing to take the small things to me, how much more likely are you to delay bringing the big things to me. I think this is likely one of the biggest challenges for me. I sometimes feel like I'm taking advantage of God by asking him to intervene in my problems even though I know that is what his word says he wants from me. So I am trying to make a stronger commitment to praying about the small things as well as the large. I have been praying that God would turn me into a prayer warrior.

Another thing that I sometimes loose sight of is that I don't always have to have a problem to talk to God. This is where giving thanks comes in. Sometimes things might just be going well and I desire nothing but in those times I need to remind God how much I love him and how thankful I am that he loves me. He doesn't need to hear it but I need to say it. It is great that I have a God who loves me and I need him to hear that from me more. Its much like saying I love you to my wife. There have been times I have gone days without uttering it, during those days I didn't stop loving my wife but I didn't think about telling her how much she means to me. It works the same way with God. Just because I haven't been telling him thank you enough and how much I love him doesn't mean I don't. It is important however that I remind God how much I love him, not for his benefit but for my own. God is not dependant on me in any way but I am dependant on God.

When you pray without ceasing as the above verse describes what you are really doing is putting God first in all things. If your first thought before an activity is of God then you are putting him before all things. Also if your focus throughout your day is on God, it makes it easier to say no to sin.

Finally, I will say that prayer is a true act of Worship. Be ever prayerful in through your day and lets grow together in that.

Well I shall leave it there for today. As always I hope you are very blessed and I will be praying for you all as I endeavor to become a true prayer warrior. Praise be to the Great I AM.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian