The Prayer Filled Life – Day 89 – 1 Thessalonians 5-16-18 – For This Is God’s Will For You.
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)
My Will
Is there any mystery here? Is there a lack of clarity? Is there any room for misunderstanding? Is there a mystery, lack of clarity, or potential misunderstanding about what? About my will. Do you know what is my will for you? Do you know the attitude that I would like you to maintain? Do you know the continual activity that I would like you to be engaged in? Do you know how I would like you to respond to all the twists and turns and ups and downs in life? No, there is no mystery, lack of clarity or room for misunderstanding your will. What is my will for you? You want me to be joyful, thankful, and prayerful throughout all the circumstances of life. That is correct.
What will happen to you as you remain joyful, thankful, and prayerful throughout life? What will be the outcome of your knowing and doing my will? With a joyful and thankful attitude and prayerful action, I will come to know you more intimately. How so? My heart and mind and life will be focused on you. In fact, the only way for me to remain joyful, thankful, and prayerful is to have my heart and mind and life focused on you. You alone can make me joyful, thankful, and prayerful through every adversity in life. You alone are the sole reason why the circumstances of life should never steal my joy and thankfulness or hinder me from praying to you. Why is that? I have a hope and joy and thankfulness in me that far surpasses whatever negative circumstance could come my way in this brief life. I have a hope and joy and thankfulness that is far larger and more comprehensive. This life is like a snap of the fingers or a blink of an eye or a morning mist that quickly passes away. I have an eternal hope and a forever future in you. One day, very soon, I will come to live forever in heaven with you. Yes, you will. So, I need to keep that in the forefront of my heart and mind and life when trouble comes my way. Yes, you do. What else? With a joyful, thankful, and prayerful attitude I will be a bold and bright witness for you in the world. Others will be drawn to you because they will see your life being lived out, in and through me. Others will want to come to know and love and follow and serve you because of the joy and thankfulness and prayerfulness they see in me. Yes, they will. I will be able to bear an abundance of fruit for your kingdom and bring glory to your name as I remain joyful, thankful, and prayerful. Yes, you will. Will you remain joyful, thankful, and prayer throughout all the circumstances of your life? Yes, I will. That will be very good. Thank you, Lord.
Lord, I want to know and do your will. In this case, I do clearly know your will. It is your will that I am joyful, thankful, and prayerful throughout all the twists and turns, and ups and downs of life. Help me to think and speak and act according to your will. Amen
Key Question… When have you been able to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful in a difficult circumstance?
Living It Out… Live out God’s will by being joyful, prayerful, and thankful in all circumstances.
Seeing It Happen… Have faith that it is God’s will for you to always be joyful, never stop praying, and be thankful in all circumstances.
Get Ready To Share… Share with another person or your small group how you are joyful, prayerful, and thankful in all circumstances.
Prayer To Bless Others… May you always be joyful, never stop praying, and be thankful in all circumstances.
For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Devotional Study Guide click here:
Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.
Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.
By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved Copying not permitted http://www.GrowingAsDisciples.com
