Prayer Week 2 • 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

If you got your Bibles with you, go and open them up to 1 Thessalonians 5.

It's where we're going to be as we continue along in our series on prayer.

So a quick little update with where we are.

Today wraps up week one of our actual prayer times at home.

I believe we ended up somewhere around 133 people signed up to be a part of this prayer

challenge and prayer journey with us.

And so we're excited about that.

If you didn't sign up and want to continue to pray, too bad.

You can't.

Just kidding.

Like, we want you to pray with us as well as we go through this.

And then for everybody, whether you've committed to a certain time or hour or not, we've got

these prayer guides that are going to be available, and they're on the table back there.

So as you leave, grab one of those.

Well, here's how you've been praying and how you can continue to pray.

Our Utah missions team of high schoolers and adults have made it back, and God did a wonderful

ministry.

Been able to hear a little bit about the stories of what God has done out there in the Salt

Lake area.

And it's just been phenomenal to hear.

And can't wait.

As they got back, I believe, somewhere around the 2 a.m.

And so if you see some of them kind of walking around and staggering, we're just glad that

they're here with us this morning.

So here's how you can pray moving forward.

As you notice, we typically don't have cardboard cutouts of animals and things around the room

or clouds hanging in the auditorium.

And so you know when you see things like that, it is VBS week.

And so VBS starts on Monday.

And Kareem and her team have done a wonderful job preparing us as we go into the wilderness

and as we go through and interact with Moses and hear all that God has done and God's faithfulness.

And so I want to encourage you to be praying for this week for the families and the kids

and the moms and the dads that are going to come through here.

This year is, as you know, I think the phrase of this year could be, it's a little bit different

than it's ever been before.

And that rings true for our VBS as we've got a large number of families who are not a

part of our church who are coming to our VBS.

And so we're excited to have them there as we're excited to have all of our families there

as we welcome them and share the gospel with them.

And then last and definitely not least, we've got a team that is going to be leaving next Sunday

after church to go and to serve our middle, our middle schoolers should be going to serve

with adults at Black Mountain Children's Home.

And so I just want to be able to share with you guys to be praying for all of us as we

prepare to go on that trip as well.

The reason why I'm sharing that this Sunday and not next Sunday is Aaron and I are going

on that trip as well, but we're going to leave Saturday so that we can prep and plan for the

team to be there.

So be in prayer for that team.

And then next Sunday, you guys are going to be absolutely blessed.

We've got John Jameson from the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

He heads up the serve team.

And so John's job is coordinating churches to help them impact and serve in the communities

that they are in.

And John's going to be with us and continuing on in our series in prayer.

And so I'm excited for what John is going to bring to our congregation as God lays that

word on his heart.

So with all of that said, let's go ahead and jump in.

We're going to read 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

Let's look at verses 14 through 18.

Paul writes, and he says,

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be

patient with them all.

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and

to everyone.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the

will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

And so this is our second week, our second passage that we've looked at.

We looked at Colossians 4 last week in the letter that Paul wrote, and we're going to look

at a different letter this morning as we talk about prayer.

So I have been working on and have kind of come up with a working, not definitely not all-encompassing,

but a working definition of prayer that we're using to kind of guide us through this study

and through this series as we learn how we can grow more in our prayer lives individually,

but also our prayer life corporately together as a church.

And so here's kind of the working definition for this series is that prayer is the expression

of our faith in God and our dependence on God through requests and declarations made to God.

And so what we're seeing, what we're talking about is that faith is an expression of our faith in Christ.

If you and I claim faith in Christ, then prayer is a part of who we are.

That is a declaration.

We can see our faith through that, but we also declare our dependence on God through prayer.

So by me praying to God, it shows that in who I am and what I have surrendered to and what

I acknowledge is that I am fully and completely dependent on God.

That all things good that come through me are not of me, but they are of him.

That he is what sustains me and keeps me and holds me and empowers me and engrows me.

And so all of that shows my dependence on God.

And this happens as I communicate to him through two ways that we're really focusing on.

Number one, our requests.

Like let's don't beat ourselves up that we request things to God, that we bring these before him.

So we want someone to be healed.

We bring it before God.

We want clarity in a situation.

We bring it before God.

We want health and relationships.

We bring these things before the Lord.

We bring our request, but also that we bring our declarations before God of who he is.

That in prayer we can declare his majesty, his goodness, and his glory.

That we can proclaim who he is.

God does not tire of hearing us talk about how much we love him and how great he is.

In all of these things that we do, they are made to God.

So we don't pray to people.

We don't pray to saints.

We make our prayers known to God.

Now, as we started walking through this series together, the Lord is just blessing us with

wonderful conversations that so many of you and I are being able to have.

And I wanted to kind of look at a conversation that I've had this past week with more than

just a handful of people.

And it is this, that everyone pretty much in the world acknowledges that prayer is good.

Right?

As Christians, we should and we do.

Like, we acknowledge.

Like, none of you sitting in here, when we make the statement that prayer is good, that

prayer is a command, that we need to pray, none of you would say, nah, I don't think

so.

Right?

All of us who were found in Christ, we all declare that and know that to be true.

But I want to be honest with you.

When the world begins to rub tension, even within lost people, lost people will be quick

to throw out the, hey, I'm not necessarily about this, but if you could, would you pray

for me?

Right?

Like, I've got so many people who were in my life from childhood and even recent relationships

who would not say that they're a follower of Christ, but know who I am.

And when the world begins to throw the difficulties their way, it's, hey, Bo, I'm not necessarily

one to usually ask for this, but could you pray for me?

And I'm thinking, bro, I've already been, all right?

But absolutely, yes, we will continue to pray for you.

So even the world would acknowledge, for the most part, that there's a benefit to prayer,

no matter where they think that benefit comes from.

But the struggle, and this is it, this is the conversation we're having, that I know that

it's good for my life.

I know that I should do it, I know the benefits that come from it, I know that God calls me

to it, but I've never made it a deep priority in my life.

Or it started off as a priority when I got saved, or when I was going through a tough time

in my marriage, or I was going through this crisis, or I was going through this health

battle.

Then prayer became valuable and became important, but I've wandered away from it, and it's not

a deep-rooted priority in my life now.

And so for me, I would compare it like this, is how I think a lot of us view prayer, is

the same way that I view eating healthy, all right?

I know eating healthy is important.

I know eating healthy is good for me.

But when I'm traveling down 378, and there's that red light that's flashing of the hot, fresh,

ready donuts, all right?

I've been known to pick up a dozen and to get home with none of them.

I'm just saying, like, I'm capable of that.

And then the healthy beverage to wash them all down is the whole chocolate milk that I can

get to go with it, right?

I know that's bad.

I know instead I need to swing through the whole foods and get some organic broccoli and

kind of crunch on that on my way home.

But Krispy Kreme is just a whole lot better, let's be honest, right?

And that's the way that so many of us view prayer.

Like, we know what we should do.

We know the benefit of it.

We know the spiritual health that comes from that.

But yet we choose other things.

We choose other things that don't lead to that, that aren't going to impact eternity.

And that's what we wander to.

And that's the conversation that we've been having.

And maybe that's where you are.

And if that's where you are, it's okay because we're glad that we're here together going through

this.

And this is what we are working toward is finding the opportunity for us to sit and to have

a deep relationship with God that's going to come from our conversations with Him in prayer.

So, kind of a recap of a point last week that spills over into this week is the question,

well, should our prayer life, should it be one long sit-down prayer before the Lord, like

honestly what we're doing now in this five weeks of prayer that we're doing together?

Or should my prayer be more marked by moments of brief conversations with Him?

And so, last week we looked at what Paul says to devote yourself to prayer, which is to be

devoted to this, to work into a strength, to build it forward.

Jesus, when He looks at the disciples when they fell asleep in the garden, He says, what,

you couldn't wait and pray for me one hour, right?

And so, that's what we're seeing.

So, the answer is, should it be one long journey of a prayer together with us before the Lord?

Or should it be these brief moments of what we just read with pray without ceasing?

And the answer is yes.

Yes, it should be both.

And so, we should not be a person who says that this is what I do because this is what I feel that

I'm best at, but we should say this is what we've embodied and this is what we've embraced.

And I read this from a pastor last week.

I'm going to read it again this week.

I'm going to put it up on the screen that talks about this, of the difference between

praying without ceasing and being devoted in prayer and the two things that it works

toward.

And here's what this pastor said.

He said, continual fellowship with God will grow from praying without ceasing, but depth

of intimacy will come from devotion and endurance of prayer over time.

So, the answer is yes.

And we know this because let's talk a little bit about relationships, right?

So, my wife is really good at pointing out oftentimes the blind spots in our relationship

and in our marriage where we need to address and grow.

And so, one of the things that she'll say from time to time is, you know, we really haven't

just sat down and engaged in deep, meaningful conversation with each other.

So, let's block out everything else.

Let's go out to dinner.

Let's go on a walk.

Let's sit down on the couch.

Let's remove the technology, turn off the TV, and just engage in a long, intimate conversation

with each other.

And so, that's what we do.

And so, we'll go for a walk out on the dam.

We'll go for a nice dinner.

We'll get the kids to go spend the night at friends' houses or send them to the grandparents

so that we can just sit there and have deep conversation.

And it's remarkable in the 17 years that we've been married that every time that we have one

of these conversations, we still find that we're finding out more and more about each

other and growing in our intimacy with one another through these conversations.

And that's what it looks like with God when we sit down, as I was able to do at four o'clock

this morning, right?

And press through in that conversation and to have that time together.

But there's also this fellowship that we build, as she and I have different types of conversations

together.

So, one of the things that we also do, and I've shared this with you guys, we love to

garden, grow fruits and vegetables, and kind of work out in our yard.

Now, Aaron is really good at doing one aspect of the gardening, and I think I'm really good

at doing another aspect of the gardening.

And so, I think that I'm like the builder and the starter.

So, I'm the guy that builds the beds.

I'm the guy that brings in the dirt.

I'm the guy that churns stuff up and tills and plows and kind of does those things.

Plows, that just sound way more cool than what I actually do.

But you know what I mean, right?

And then, Aaron is more the finisher.

She's the one that's going to go and get the crops and pull the weeds so that they can grow

healthy and then go and freeze them and do all that kind of stuff.

And so, we're out there doing separate things, but having conversations as we move forward in

the same direction.

Now, we might not speak for a couple hours while we're out there, but we're in continual communication

with one another.

And that's what I would say prayer without ceasing looks like, is that's what it begins

to take on and carry within the context of our relationship.

We're out there doing what we do, but in that moment, we see a need to say something, to

request something, or to declare something.

And so, that's what we do.

And that's what prayer without ceasing is going to look like, as we're going to talk about

this in just a second with what Paul writes.

And so, when we look at this passage of Scripture, though, oftentimes, 1 Thessalonians 5, pray

without ceasing is kind of drawn out of the context of which we find it.

But Paul does not write pray without ceasing as a stick it against the wall command that does

not have things before it or after it, that it's in the context of the letter that he writes

to the church at Thessalonica.

And so, what I want us to do is to look at that context as Paul writes to this church and

understand how he gets to these three powerful words of pray without ceasing.

And we'll see the journey of these commands that he calls on the church.

And so, let's look at this.

The first one is going to be the burden of growth that Paul calls from the church.

Verse 14, and we urge you, brothers, so he's communicating this to the church, not to the men, but to

the church.

We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with

them all.

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and

to everyone.

So, let's look at verse 15, and then we'll jump back to verse 14.

Paul says, here's the action on the outside of what we need to break within us in humanity.

See that no one repays evil for evil.

So, when those do evil for you, that's not permission to God to say, oh, watch what I can

do now, right?

They open the door.

They've got what's coming to them.

It's time to pay them back.

They've done this to me, so I can do this to them.

Paul says, no, no, no, that's not what we're talking about, but what we're saying is, in

Christ, that we seek to do good to one another within the context of the church, but it doesn't

just stop there.

And Paul says, and to everyone, so that this isn't just the behavior that we have of seeking

to do good for one another, but this is what we carry outside of the walls.

Now, we might hate applying this from ourselves to others, but we love it when others applied

this to us, and we are so grateful that Jesus applied this to us.

All we did was evil to God, and God did good to us.

That's it.

That's the hope that we have in the gospel.

We did nothing good.

We did everything evil, and God says, watch me do good for you.

And that's the hope that we have.

But then Paul, before in verse 14, he says, it's going to happen through a thing that we

do together as we grow together.

Now, as we go through this, what Paul has for us throughout scripture is we see that I'm

called to invest in growth.

That's why we gather together as a church.

That's why we have things like CR.

That's why we have our small groups.

That's why we have student ministry.

That's why we have kids ministry.

That's why we have VBS.

Not only to proclaim the gospel so that people come to faith in Christ, but that we grow in

our relationship with him.

We've said this before, God loves you too much to save you and leave you where you are.

That God wants to see you grow, so he gives us the Holy Spirit, but then he places a burden

amongst all of us that we are to invest not only in our own growth individually, but we

are also called to invest in the growth of others corporately.

Now, this creates a tension in us because we've not been fully set free from the practicality

of our humanity.

All right?

Now, here's where the tensions come.

Some of us are really good at being self-focused when it comes to sin, and here's what I mean

by that.

We're really good at seeing our own faults, our own shortcomings, our own sins.

We're oftentimes the people who are very quick to openly express what we're going through

in small groups, in our areas of failure, and what we need to do better, and what we need

to go forward in.

But when we see that in others, and we see their propensity to also struggle with sin,

we use things like, it's none of my business, I don't want to step in, I don't know them

very well.

But the truth is, what we see from Scripture is that's not what we're called to do at all.

We think that's being humble, but it's being sinful.

It's being prideful.

I can't, I can't, I can't, but God can.

So that's the first tension that it gives.

The other is this, and this is the ones that we probably like to pick on, but both of these

behaviors are wrong.

There's another group of us that are really good at being other-focused.

We're really good at seeing the sins in the lives of others, but we're not willing to look

at our own sin.

We're not willing to take a step back and to look into the mirror.

And so I don't want to admit my faults and my failures, but I'm really good at pointing

out your faults and your failures.

Now, both of these attitudes are wrong.

And so Paul writes, this is what it looks like within the context of the body to not

only address your sin, but to address the others.

And he gives us four commandments, four commandments in verse 14.

He says, the first one is this, admonish the idle.

And what that means is those who are disorderly in their conduct in the church.

It doesn't necessarily just mean those who are lazy, but those who are preventing the moving

forward of the church with the gospel.

And they're actually holding the church back.

So laziness can be a part of that.

But so can pride.

So can arrogance.

So can greed.

So can lust.

Right?

Any sin that we struggle with, admonish the idle.

Work through this.

Call this out so that we can move together.

But then he also says, encourage the faint-hearted.

And what that means is comfort those who are experiencing pain, suffering, loss.

And a biblical definition of comfort is not that I just acknowledge that I'm sorry you're

going through that, but that we hurt with those who hurt is what Paul tells us in Romans.

So that I take on your burden.

I take on your pain.

When you weep, I weep.

When you rejoice, I rejoice.

This is what this looks like to encourage the faint-hearted.

You see the depth of a relationship that we're diving into more and more.

And then the third thing he says, help the weak.

Help the weak.

All right.

Here's what helping the weak looks like in the context of scripture and in sacrifice.

It means that where you are weak, I can apply my strength so that you can grow from your weakness

into strength.

If you've ever lifted weights and worked out, it's kind of the picture of someone who's

spotting someone who's bench pressing a lot of weight.

You know, they're laying down on the bench and they've got maybe more weight than they can

handle.

And they get it off of the bar and they bring it down to their chest.

And they go to press up and they get about right here and they stop.

And maybe the right arm goes a little bit farther, but the left is dragging back.

And next thing you know, they begin to collapse.

And the person who's the spotter reaches down.

And while they push, they pull to remove the weight off of them.

Now, they're still growing in their strength.

Why?

Because of your love and your care, you're exercising your strength to help them.

And this is what it looks like when we, amongst one another, when we help the weak.

That I'm willing to give of myself and of my strength so that you can grow.

But here's the thing.

I'm straining as well, so I'm growing in strength also.

So we admonish the idle.

We encourage the faint-hearted.

We help the weak.

And you think all of those are tough.

And I agree, they are tough.

But here's what I think is the toughest of them all.

He says, be patient.

While you're going through all that, be patient.

So you're the person that's there, I told you you couldn't lift that weight.

I'm going to leave it there on you for just a little bit.

No, no, no.

Be patient.

Encourage the faint-hearted.

I knew your circumstances were going to lead you right to where you are.

So I'm just going to leave you alone in that because that's what you deserve.

Now, be patient.

Be patient.

Admonish the idle.

You do this over and over and over again.

So I'm done with you.

Paul says, be patient.

Continually be patient.

Here's what it means to be patient.

Give them more time and more grace than they deserve because that's what God does with us.

God has given you and I infinitely more time than we deserve.

He's given us infinitely more grace than we deserve because we deserve none of it.

None of it.

We deserve no grace.

And God pours it out and pours it out and pours it out.

And so when we understand who we are in Christ, we understand the patience that God has with us,

then this is what we are to do.

Now, here's what I know.

The call of this burden is hard.

Walking with one another this way isn't easy.

It's messy.

It's tiresome.

It's stressful.

But it's what we're called to do.

So then Paul follows with a command.

And the difficulty of all of these things that are there to do, to admonish, to encourage, to help, to be patient,

he follows that with a command to rejoice.

To rejoice.

Look at verse 16.

Two very simple words.

Rejoice always.

Rejoice always.

And I love both of those words.

But the second word is going to be the word that I really want us to think about.

Rejoice always.

Well, what about this?

Nope, always.

But what about when this happens?

Nope, always.

But there's got to be a clause.

There's got to be an exception.

There's got to be a little sub-point in there.

There's got to be an amendment that in this moment I don't have to rejoice.

No, rejoice always is what Scripture says.

Because here's the thing.

Rejoicing is not found in circumstances.

If my circumstances determine my joy, then my joy would be limited and could not be always.

But Paul says very clearly, rejoice always.

Now, we're going to go through some Scriptures.

If you want to jot them down, don't turn there.

They'll be on the screen.

But this isn't an isolated incidence where this is mentioned in Scripture.

Paul says it in 1 Thessalonians, but he also says it in Philippians 4.

Paul says, Philippians 4, 4, rejoice in the Lord always, right?

Again, always.

And then he says, again, I will say rejoice.

So he says it twice.

Rejoice always.

If you miss that, again, I say rejoice.

So in both of these, as these churches face the difficulties before them of everyday life,

of persecution, of all that they were facing, he says rejoice.

Where did he get this from?

A guy named Jesus, all right?

So Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus says, blessed, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you

and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

He says that's how you're blessed.

Verse 12, rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,

for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So Jesus says right here, how can you rejoice when others revile you?

How can you rejoice when others persecute you?

How can you rejoice when they utter all kinds of evil against you falsely?

How can you rejoice?

Because your reward's not here.

It's not here.

It's in heaven.

This is temporary.

That's permanent.

This world takes things away in heaven.

It's established and can't be removed.

So Jesus says, rejoice.

Rejoice because your reward is in heaven because this earth is temporary.

And so you're like, all right, Bo, I'm tracking with you.

Paul says this is what we need to do.

Jesus says this is what we need to do.

Easier said than done, right?

Easier said than done.

Let's look at Acts 5, verse 40.

Acts 5:40

And when they had called the apostles, this is religious leaders, when they had called in

the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them

go.

So the apostles have been declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thousands of people are getting saved.

They don't like what's happening.

They bring them in there.

They beat them and say, if you don't want this to happen again, then don't speak in the name

of Jesus.

We're going to let you go.

Verse 41.

Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing.

Rejoicing.

Why were they rejoicing?

That they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

In verse 42.

And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching

that the Christ is Jesus.

And so here's everyday men called and saved by the same God who calls and saves us, filled

by the same Holy Spirit that fills us.

And they leave getting beaten and commanded not to do something and do it anyways and rejoice

in the fact of their suffering because they knew it wasn't in the circumstances, but it

was found in the reward.

Paul later on in Acts 16.

Acts 5, Paul hadn't been saved yet.

Acts 16, he's saved.

It says this, having received this order, he put them in the inner prison and fastened their

feet in stocks.

And about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying, singing hymns to God, and the prisoners weren't

listening to them.

So here's what's happened.

Paul and Silas have been out preaching and declaring Jesus Christ, and men and women are

getting saved.

Lives are being transformed.

Communities are being transformed.

Light is shining in darkness like it never has in these areas before.

And Paul and Silas were in prison for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, it's important what it says in verse 24 where they are.

He put them into the inner prison.

Now, let's understand this.

That does not mean the center room of the jail.

What the inner prison was, it was the center room in the prison in the basement.

And they didn't have sewage systems like we have.

And what they used during this time was the wonderful thing created by the God that they

would not associate themselves with, a thing called gravity.

And as those who were in prison would relieve themselves, as they would use the bathroom,

they would use the gravity so that all of the feces and all of the urine would work its

way down to the inner prison.

And so where we find Paul and Silas is both literally and figuratively standing in the waste

and the mess of this world.

And it says that they fastened their feet in stocks.

Now, when we see stocks on TV and on movies, we get this picture of chains where people can

move around or locked in place, but it's kind of aggravating with where they are.

And that's not what stocks are and what they were used for in Rome.

And in this time, what the Roman Empire would do, we said this a few weeks ago, they were

really good at killing people.

They were really good at torturing people.

And so what they would do is they would contort the body through the stocks so that over time,

your muscles would literally begin to break down so that your entire body for 24 hours

was consistently locked into one big cramp.

And I don't know, you imagine like three o'clock in the morning, right?

And you've been out working in the yard and you didn't drink as much water as you needed

to.

And all of a sudden you wake up and in that part of your leg, you got the cramp that's

kind of working through that.

Imagine that's your whole body every day.

And that's where they were.

In feces and urine.

In verse 25, about midnight, Paul and Silas experiencing all of that were praying and singing

hymns to God.

Now, I don't know about what your response would be to that situation, but that's what theirs

were, because they rejoice always.

And the prisoners were listening to them and we would see where some would be saved.

Second Corinthians 6, 10.

A servant of God, sorrowful, yet is always rejoicing.

Don't miss that the struggles of this world can fill our hearts with sorrow, right?

But yet we can still rejoice in the midst of the sorrow.

Jesus wept when Lazarus died, but it didn't take away his joy.

And so as we go through this life, you will face hurt, you will face pain, you will face

suffering, you will face loss.

Being a Christian doesn't remove these things from us.

We are stuck in this world, in this time, but God says, even in the midst of those, rejoice

always.

Because in Romans, I'm working the good for all of those who are found in me.

And here's the craziness of that, of God's working the good in every situation, every

pain, every suffering.

But it doesn't necessarily guarantee that you're going to get to see what that good is

in this life.

That God's working and God's working and God's working.

So the question for you, the question for me, the obvious question is, how do we do this?

How do we hit this level of carrying on this burden of growth and growing in Christ and walking

with others to rejoice always and persevere through that?

How do we do that?

And so verse 17 comes in, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.

Pray without ceasing is what Paul writes.

And so what does that look like?

What does it look like when you and I enter into a commitment before the Lord that we're

going to pray without ceasing?

Where do we rest our heart?

Where do we rest our words?

Where do we rest our mind?

What do we model for one another?

What does this mean?

I think pray without ceasing means three things.

Number one, it means that we depend on God.

We understand that it is not money.

It is not power.

It is not fame.

It is not medicine.

It is not politics.

That he and he alone is our source of hope and of life.

And it is in him and through him that you and I are sustained.

In everything.

It is not the food that he gives us that sustains me, but he is my daily bread.

It is not the circumstances of this life that sustains me, but it is him and him alone.

He and he alone are the source of my hope and my life and my joy.

So in this, pray without ceasing is a posturing of dependence on God.

The second thing that it means is pray repeatedly and pray often.

Prayer without ceasing is not a constant recurring prayer that never ends.

We are not monks walking around mumbling things under our breath, but instead, it is a conversation

that can be picked up at any time.

Prayer without ceasing is a conversation that can be picked up at any time.

So I am walking into a meeting.

I am walking into an appointment.

I am doing something with my kids.

I am headed to a baseball game.

And all of these, I am having a conversation with God.

I am going to kind of take a pause in this and sit right here until we are here.

And all of a sudden, I pick right back up where I was at before.

It is the journey of the intimacy and the fellowship with a friend that we maybe haven't spoken

to and we feel like what seems like forever, but then we bump into somewhere with them and

the conversation picks right up where it was before.

That we pray repeatedly and we pray often and we continue on with him.

And then lastly, to pray without ceasing means that we never give up.

We never give up.

Last week in Isaiah, what we read in Isaiah 64, got to get to the challenge, like wear me out.

We never give up.

It's not ever a conversation that we press the end button on.

It's a conversation that is continual and going on.

I'm going to use what might seem to be a silly illustration, but I hope you would see in the

silliness of it that we would never do this with others, but we do this with the Lord all the time.

It would be like, let's say, husbands and wives, you're here today and you get in the car

and you're headed home.

And that, let's say, the husband, because we like to pick on the husbands and not the wives,

right?

Let's say the husband looks at his wife and says, we're going to be home in 10 minutes.

Say to me everything you want to for the next 10 minutes, because when we get home, it's

no more.

No more conversations.

And go, right?

Now, I would be willing to bet there's going to be a lot of conversation that happens in

that next 10 minutes, but it's not going to end in that 10 minutes, right?

It's going to continue on and continue on and continue on because that's how relationships

are made.

And if we claim to have a relationship with God of who he is and our response to him, then

we never give up on the conversation that we're having with him.

And so nothing's too silly, nothing's too not important that he's there and wear him

out.

Now, here's the question.

This seems like a lot to do.

To carry the burden, to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing.

And what Paul does is his grace and his kindness is he tells us why this should be important

for our life, why you and I should look toward this and desire this and want this for our life

as he wraps up verse 18.

And he says this, very simply, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This is God's will.

The question that so many of us, God, I want to know your will in my life.

God, I want to know what I need to do, who I need to be.

God, I need to know where I need to go and what I need to be about.

God, I've been following you for years and God, I just want to know your will, right?

It's the question that is so often asked in churches and in Bible studies.

God, give me your will for my life.

Hey, 1 Thessalonians 5 gives it to us.

1 Thessalonians, Paul opens this up and he says, as followers of Jesus, this is,

God's will for your life.

Stop searching.

It's right here.

As we invest, as we rejoice, and as we're in constant community with the Lord.

And I would be willing to bet that in those meaningful decisions where we feel like we need God's guidance

and depth of importance in those moments, that when these things ring true and that you and I truly are a group of people who are carrying on the burden of growth,

that when you and I truly are the people who rejoice, not when the circumstances align with what we want,

but we rejoice in all circumstances, but we rejoice in all circumstances and that you and I are a people who are in constant communication and connection with the Lord,

I have a feeling that path that he set us on is a little bit more clear as we move forward.

Because that's how he loves us.

And that's his patience for us.

And so today, where you find yourself, I want you to know that there's a God who wants to be in continual communication with you.

That there's a God who loves you and who seeks to sustain you and grow you.

The question that we have is we know what we're supposed to do.

We know the benefit of it.

But will we just walk out of here and do it?

Would you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you so much for who you are and your grace and your kindness for us.

We thank you for your word.

Lord, I thank you that my joy is not set in the things of this world,

but my joy is found in you and you alone.

That my joy is set and secured in eternity

and not in the circumstances that will change, that will fade, and that will fail.

Lord, grow us as a church.

Give us a burden for one another.

To lift up, to encourage, to admonish, to feel each other's pain,

to build each other's weakness, and to be patient with one another.

Lord, continually keep our minds set on the things that are above, not on the things of this earth.

Remind us of the joy that we have in you and you alone.

Lord, grow us in our prayer,

both in our devotion.

Lord, give us those moments where we just need to get on our knees and sweat and cry out

and struggle and struggle for the burdens that you've placed on our heart,

for the declarations of your name,

for the requests that consume us.

Lord, also remind us

that you hear our thoughts,

that you know our hearts,

and that, Lord, even if everyone in the world

cried out to you at the same time,

you would still individually hear our voice.

Lord, remind us that you're never asleep.

You're never on break.

Lord, that you were always there.

May we cry out to you.

Lord, have us rest in the confidence of your will

and what you have for us.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Just a moment, we're going to stand and we're going to respond.

We're going to respond through song.

The altar's open if you want to come down and pray.

Maybe last week we got on our knees and prayed on our seats.

Maybe that's what you feel like you need to do this morning.

Maybe you need to grab your son or your daughter

or your spouse, friend.

Hold him by the hand and pray for him.

Or maybe you just need to declare

the majesty and the goodness of God.

We just ask that you respond this morning,

not how we want you to,

but how the Spirit of God is leading you this morning

to respond to Him.

Let's stand as we worship.

Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message.

If you'd like to learn more about who we are

or explore additional resources,

visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com

or by searching for Willow Ridge Church

on Facebook and Instagram.