Friday October, 13, 2017

 

Life is full of surprise. Some days you laugh and other days cry. Some days you are happy and other days you are sad. There are times when you feel strong but there are also times when you feel weak. Then there are the times when you are full of confidence but there also are those days when you are full of fear. On occasion people might speak well of you then the next day they speak badly about you. Life can be fair at times and unfair at others. You can be healthy one day then sick the next. That’s just the way life is, one day you are up and the next day you are down.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:17-19 NLT

Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.

 

The apostle Paul is writing to a new group of believers in the pagan city of Thessalonica. This city had some 200,000 inhabitants. As you can imagine, there were all sorts of people living in conjunction with these new believers. Some of them were happy and others were sad. Some believers felt confident while others were full of fears. Paul’s goal was to help them establish a spiritual foundation for their lives irrespective of their feelings, whether up or down.

 

Paul’s strategy was simple; if you are happy then pray, thank God, and don’t stifle the Holy Spirit. When you are sad, pray, thank God, and don’t stifle the Holy Spirit. When you feel strong, pray, thank God, and don’t stifle the Holy Spirit. When you win, when you lose, when you are falsely accused, when temptation comes, when life does not go your way, no matter what you are going through pray, thank God, and don’t stifle the Holy Spirit.

 

Never Stop Praying

Maintaining an attitude of constant prayer builds up your awareness of God’s personal love and availability.

 

Be Thankful in all Circumstances

As we pray we become aware of Gods’ love and availability. As we thank Him in all the ups and downs of life, we become aware of how God uses all of those circumstances, the good and the seemingly bad ones to perfect His work in us.

 

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.

When we pray and thank God in all our circumstances, we are in essence giving the Holy Spirit permission to work through us for the benefit of others and to work in us so that we remain strong through all of our ups and downs.

 

No matter what you are going through, pray because God answers prayers. Thank Him in all circumstances because through it all He is working on your behalf. And never stifle the Holy Spirit in your life, because God works through you and in you through His Holy Spirit, the same power that resurrected Jesus from the grave.