Text:I Thessalonians 5:1-18

The topic for today is pray. I think we would usually have no problems talking about the who, what, when, or where, of prayer. There are several verses in scripture that talk about and challenge all of us. Some are Col. 4:2 that remind us to be constant in prayer as well as our verse in I Thessalonians today. There is a verse that remind us to pray everywhere, Rom. 8:26. Also, challenging us to pray about everything, Phil. 4:6, 7 and everywhere I Timothy 2:8. There are also verses that discuss the fact that God hears us and is moved by our prayers, I John 5:14, 15.

The issue is the why that I think we struggle with. This struggle can then lead us to a weak prayer life. If Christ told His followers that God’s house would be a house of prayer, I believe His children are meant to be powerful prayer warriors. I struggle with this just like anyone else and at times do not understand prayer. Why does God need me to pray? I think this is the way we come at it too many times when prayer is not for God, even though it is a sweet smelling incense. Prayer is more for us here on this earth. Let us look at some prayers in the Bible and see what we can learn.

The prayer of Jabez, whose name means sorrow, I Chron. 4:10. We see a very simple prayer with seemingly no significance but it is found in the Bible so we must be able to learn something. Then we have Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving for the boy child, I Sam. 2:1-10. Paul prays for spiritual wisdom, Ephesians 1:17-19, and then we see the interesting prayer of the publican, Luke 18:13. So, what can we learn and how can we grow in our prayer life?

First, humility is a must. We understand that we are not God and ultimately God’s will is done. We are to pray for faith in God’s decision and trust our Father with the future. We also see that prayer is best when we are praying for others. I cannot pray for you to be a better witness without being challenged myself. It is just the way it works. Prayer gives us hope and much needed focus in this chaotic world. May we be God’s prayer warriors!