DO THIS! (PART 8)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Pray continually.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We have now covered a week of “Do This!” statements taken from the fifth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica. Before we move on, let’s recap these first seven commands from God in regard to the way Christians are to live:

1. Live in peace with one another.

2. Warn those who are idle and disruptive.

3. Encourage the disheartened, help the weak.

4. Be patient with everyone.

5. Don’t pay back wrong for wrong.

6. Always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

7. Rejoice always.

This leads us to today’s eighth exhortation found in verse 17:

Pray continually.

Now, I don’t think there are many, if any, Christian believers out there who don’t incorporate prayer into their walk of faith. But how many Jesus followers can say that they pray continually outside of church leaders.

Maybe we don’t want to really answer that question, right?

My fear is that prayer for most Christians has become an exercise only associated with personal need. In other words, a person turns to God only when they need Him in a time of personal crisis. Outside of that, they are more prone to communicate with everyone else but Him.

I wonder how God feels about this kind of prayer behavior, especially when His blessings and goodness overflow on people daily. I’m sure He is less than pleased about it, especially when we see today’s “Do This!” demand to “pray continually”.

Okay, I think we can all agree that we need to do better when it comes to praying with more frequency. Let me share an idea with you, one that you may have heard before but it is worth reiterating. This method uses the five fingers on a hand with each finger representing a prayer subject to focus in on.

The thumb is praise (Psalm 146:1-2) as we express our wonder and awe over who God is and what He has done and is doing in our lives through our prayers.

The pointer finger represents thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:20) and it’s self explanatory. Count all the many ways the Lord has blessed you and those you love. This should easily allow you to lift up prayers of gratitude.

The middle finger signifies intercession (Ephesians 6:18-19). We should always get outside of ourselves and pray over others who are going through difficult times. We can do this for those we know and those we don’t.

The ring finger denotes petition (Philippians 4:6-7), which is simply asking for God to help you with your needs and everyone has needs so this form of prayer, along with prayers of intercession, should occur regularly.

Finally, the small (or pinky) finger stands for confession (1 John 1:9). We know that all people are sinners who fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and so we all have transgressed. The Lord expects us to confess and repent of our sins through prayer so we need to make these prayers a priority if we’re going to remain in His favor and out of His punishment.

This eighth command is to pray continually and we can do this by making sure we pray in regard to all the ways we’re called to by the scriptures. Not only will we see our prayer life improve but we’ll foster a stronger relationship with our God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com