Praying Always

One of the things we can all admit, no matter how long we have been a Christ follower, is we do not pray as often as we should. This is not written to make us feel guilty. It is just a fact. Because we are not perfect, there are many disciplines of the Christian life that we do not do as well as we would like or as well as we should.  Prayer is one of them. Instead of feeling guilty, and beating ourselves up, we should make it our daily desire to pray more.

The biblical command is to pray always and for everything. 1 Thessalonians 5.17-18, “Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” First, we notice that praying always and for everything is God’s will for us.  Do you want to know God’s will for your life? It is to pray always and for everything. Do you want to do God’s will? Pray always and for everything.

Last week I heard Dr. David Jeremiah give this illustration. I don’t know if it was a true story but it is a good illustration. One day a mother received a call from the school nurse who told her that her daughter was sick and needed to be picked up and taken home. And so, the mother drove to school, picked up her daughter, and took her home. After arriving home, she put her daughter in bed and called the doctor. The doctor said that her daughter probably had what was going around, but because he did not have any appointments available, he called in a prescription to the pharmacy. The mother then drove to the pharmacy and picked up the medicine. Upon returning to her car she realized she had locked her keys in the car. Frantic, she called her husband at work and asked what she should do. He suggested she get a clothes hanger and try to get in by using it to unlock the car. So, she went into the pharmacy and got a wire hanger from the cashier, and went back to her car.  But she did not know what to do. So, she prayed, “God send someone to help me use this hanger to unlock my car.”  A couple of minutes after she prayed, a man pulled up in a car and parked next to her, and asked her what was wrong. She told him her story. He took the hanger from her hand. He slid it through the window and unlocked the car. The mother said to him, ”You are a good man.” The man said, “Not really. I just got out of prison.”  The mother prayed, “Thank you, God, for sending me an expert.”

Let us find times to pray in every situation throughout the day.  Set your phone’s alarm as a reminder if you have to. Put post-it notes that say “pray” in places as a reminder. And let us thank God for everything.

                                                            In Christ Alone