Paul had just written these words to the Thessalonians....speaking of the...."day of the Lord.....for when they say....'Peace and safety'....then sudden destruction comes upon them....but you brethren....are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep....as other do....but let us watch and be sober." In his summation he told us to...."Rejoice always...pray without ceasing....and in everything give thanks...Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil....now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless....at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ..."
"Pray without ceasing"....that is what our life is to be. We are every day at no loss for things of which to pray....friends are in need....we may be in need....the news of the day alone gives us ample needs for prayer. We wake up and a prayer should be right on our lips or in our mind. We have tasks to do....our livelihood in many if not most cases....Christ should be there in our minds at all times....thanking Him....praising Him....asking of Him.Folks...this is what we do....is it not...this is who we are. I'm praying as I type this. I hope you are praying as you read it. This is a great and awesome gift and blessing given us....to have the God of righteousness...and He who will judge righteously...and He who is coming....right there hearing our thoughts and prayers...as we utter them!
A couple of things about these early and short letters to the Thessalonians....in retrospect...with almost two-thousand years in between....and aware of the day that we live in....these letters are particularly for us! These are letters to the church just before the Lord returns. In Paul's follow-up letter....he continued with the message...."Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed....the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception....and for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie..."
"Pray without ceasing"....how can it be any other way? There are brothers and sisters in great right now. There are brothers and sisters being persecuted....right now. There are those all around us....loved ones....friends....acquaintances....who need what God has given to us....who had done nothing to deserve it....and had no will to even seek it....that being nothing less than our heart regenerated....and our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life! This also is a great gift...to pray that God would give the same mercy to others that He had given to us....just as others had prayed for us before we were taken from the jaws of hell!
It may be an absurd analogy. I'll let you decide....the believers in the Ukraine right now....or Syria....or in the heart of China....take your pick....do you think that they might be complaining that the husband didn't fix the squeak in the door....or that the wife didn't add onions to the pasta....or that the kids didn't wipe their feet....or that the supermarket didn't separate the soaps from the meat?
Is this a true salvation that we have....with a real hell....and real "gnashing of teeth"....or isn't it....and do we not have real bodies with no guarantee that the heart might not stop at any minute? Will not our regret in heaven be that we did not every minute since our salvation....in some way....show and give and shout praises to this most majestic and glorious mighty Lord and Savior who....once again....chose us for redemption?
"This box must be checked!" Surely you have had this appear at various times on your computer. Everything else was fine....but one box had not been checked. That box to us is...."Is this salvation real or is it not?" And then we should read...."If you checked that it is real....then should you not be overcome with rejoicing and praises....and should you not 'pray without ceasing'.....as one who believes that prayer is real....and that God answers prayer?"
