1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
I was doing my daily reading of The Journey when I came across these 2 verses which talks about what we have at message last week about prayer. In our busy lives, where we have just so much to do, sometimes we may forget to pray or even have this thought that I can always do it tomorrow but the tomorrow only comes occasionally or never at all. However as a Christian prayer is our fundamental discipline and nothing can be done or happens without prayer. When we pray, we are not only empowered and delivered from our temptations, it is also a form of getting to know God and involving God in whatever which do. When we neglect prayer, are we not neglecting the God who so love us that He gave up so much just to save us and he loves us so much that He knows us by our names (I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:1-4). For me, I am also guilty of not praying always due to my busy schedule and the things to do seem so endless and sometimes I am just too tired that I think I can just pray tomorrow and God won’t mind. Worse still many of us are guilty of being crisis prayer people where we only pray when we encounter some crisis or we need God’s help in certain things that we do.
In this verse, we have 3 learning points. First we are to continually pray diligently making it the main thing in our lives and not just following a list in the morning and when we have a certain need. We should be praying always as we go about in our lives. Secondly, we are to be watchful and be aware of the needs around us. Lastly, prayer has to be accompanied with thanksgiving and faith that God will answer our prayer. With this, I hope to change my own attitude with regards to prayer and pray that I will be diligent and make prayer a part of my life.