‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’. 1st Thessalonians 5 v 16-18
When I am faced with something difficult if I don’t bring it to Jesus I tend to respond in two ways. I either try to avoid it or I throw myself into it and persevere through gritted teeth. Neither of these reactions are particularly helpful. The first leaves me with a feeling of dread and the task just keeps getting bigger in my mind and the second leaves me feeling exhausted and burnt out! Unfortunately there are verses and themes in the Bible that we can treat in this same way. We either find them too difficult to follow and we ignore them or we put all our effort into trying to succeed in an attempt to keep the Lord happy with our performance. Prayer is one of these subjects and many verses that talk about prayer often leave people feeling condemned and unworthy if they don’t understand their true meaning.
Let’s look at today’s verse. On the surface it feels like the person that wrote this must be living some kind of fairy tale life that is not in touch with our reality. Paul is telling us to rejoice at all times, to pray at all times and to give thanks at all times!! Is he just not in touch with real life!! Actually we need to take a step back and remember where Paul was writing from. He wasn’t penning these words in his luxury five star hotel overlooking the sea. He was in a prison cell. We also know that Paul was a man who understood God’s grace in his life. He didn’t say things to impress God or because he felt he needed to do the right thing. His relationship with the Lord was honest and authentic so when he was encouraging other believers to rejoice, pray and be thankful at all times it was because this was the secret to his own walk with the Lord.
“Rejoice always”, - How do you do that when things are tough? Outside of Jesus, the only time that you can rejoice is when you are feeling joy. The Lord has a different way for us. So what does the verse actually mean in the original Greek, ‘xaírō’ from the root xar-, is to be favorably disposed, leaning towards and connect with. Then, ‘xáris’, means grace or to properly delight in God's grace to rejoice. Literally It means to experience God's grace (favor),and be conscious (glad) for His grace. When you do not prioritise His presence where you just connect you are less conscious of His grace. In your life there are only 2 options - you are either leaning towards and delighting in His grace, or you are relying on yourself and what you think you can do.
He then says “pray unceasingly”. He is encouraging us to connect and exchange our burdens for his grace. Why is this? I think this is about heart health. Proverbs 4:23 says, ‘Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.’ Managing your heart is critical for how you experience life because everything flows from there. Keeping your heart in touch with God's heart will mean that His life will flow through you. If you are neglecting this in your life then you will see a lack of life flowing through you.
Finally he tells us to, ‘give thanks always’, ‘euxaristéō’, (eú, "good" andxaris, "grace") – properly, acknowledging that "God's grace works well," i.e. for our eternal gain and His glory; to give thanks – literally, "thankful for God's good grace.” Always speak - Jesus your unmerited favour in my life works well! This is the word that Jesus used before He fed the 5,000 with a packed lunch. In those times of exchange and connection in declaring God's grace is enough, then what we see is that you have been supernaturally blessed and multiplied so that there is an abundance over and above what is needed.
I heard a psychologist speaking and they said that 90% of issues with mental health are rooted in, traced back to trying to avoid pain. Sometimes we are not that different as believers. We operate by trying to get over things from our past, and navigate challenges (trying to avoid pain), instead of in those moments and the distractions of them, turning to the Lord and exchanging the worry and the weight for His life and peace.
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Unshakeable Hope Series – Exchange Church Belfast 2021