When prayer doesn’t work… keep praying.

Pray without ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17

With everything that is happening in the world right now, I felt in my heart that it was important to write about prayer. In my previous devotional I wrote about how we need to trust God when we’re facing or witnessing any hardship and I still feel that it’s important that we stay strong and keep praying. Being patient while praying for something to come to past can be hard. We never truly know how God is going to answer our prayers, but faith means we actually have confidence that He will. I believe that God knows we’re going to doubt, but no where in the Bible does it say, pray and then just give it up when it doesn’t come to past. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul says it’s important to pray “without ceasing.” That means without giving up. Without stopping to doubt whether or not He’ll answer our prayer, but choosing to trust instead. What does it mean or look like for you to pray without ceasing? I remember I was asked this in a life group one time and I thought about it. To me, that looks like having an attitude of prayer. Now, what does an attitude of prayer look like for you? For me it looks like praying many times throughout the day even if it’s a little prayer that I keep to myself. Or praying over and over for the same thing even if it takes years for God to answer it. If you’ve read my devotionals long enough you’ve probably seen how much I emphasize the significance of prayer. Well that’s because prayer is important. It’s important to be prayerful and to have that constant communication with God open. Prayer allows us to witness miracles in our lives. Although learning about all the horrible things that happen in the world makes me feel like things are always looking grim, but one thing that we can always count on is that God has a plan. So let’s trust Him and pray for peace in this world and the list of other important issues that we need solutions for. Yes, Jesus is the ultimate source of all of our solutions, and He most likely is coming back soon, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not suppose to pray for all the other things that effect us or other people. Make a list. Whether it’s an injustice, war, abuse, something global or personal, make that list. God hears us. Don’t forget to give Him thanks in advance and give Him all the praise while waiting for your prayers to be answered. God is so good and knows exactly what we need when we need it. God bless you and have a blessed week ahead of you.

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