by Dr. Paul Jehle
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesying” –1st Thessalonians 5:16-20
How do you rejoice all the time? How do you pray all the time, or give thanks in the midst of everything? What does it mean to refrain from quenching the Spirit, or to make sure we don’t despise prophesying?
The answer to these questions resides in the nature and practice of prayer. Prayer is communing with God; it is a relationship.
Prayer is primarily an attitude, and it is expressed in the way we practice communion with our Heavenly Father through Christ. When we live in communication with our Lord, we will rejoice because He is joy, and it is our strength.
We can pray without ceasing without talking. We simply are in tune with the Lord and open for His direction, living out of His strength rather than our own. It is what having a relationship with God is all about! Only then can we give thanks – not necessarily for everything, but in the midst of everything!
Though we have times set aside for prayer, we also have spontaneous prayer. It ought to be our first resort when we face any kind of struggle or difficulty.
When the Spirit of God nudges us to pray, and we are not in tune with God, we quench the Spirit. Let us always be ready to pray!
The most powerful weapon we have is the Word of God – the sword of the Spirit. It is used in prayer. The original meaning of prophesying here is the preaching of the Word.
Make no mistake about it, we need the Word preached to us in order to remain inspired to continue on in perseverance – utilizing prayer as our first response to anything that happens!