1 Thessalonians 5:16–18: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

July 4th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

To rejoice always or be joyful always, sounds like an impossible command to our modern ears. We have all heard and perhaps even said, “But I can’t help how I feel.” However, Scripture suggests otherwise, and in fact instructs us to take control over our attitudes. The truth is that each of us can change how we respond to each and every situation, because attitude is a choice! Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and not based on feelings or emotions; so even in the midst of hurt, we can rejoice because we know that God is at work and in control.

The term for prayer here means a worshipful communication with God, not a perfectly-worded communication. John Bunyan helped us when he said, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without heart.” In his autobiography, Rev. Christopher Newman Hall (1816–1902) wrote about one of the most “interesting incidents” of his ministry. He climbed the Welsh mountain Snowdon one day, and slept the night in a small hut. In the morning, over a 100 people had come there as well to see what was expected to be a “grand sunrise.” Hall was watching with the others when:

I was recognized, and entreated to . . . preach to about a hundred Welshmen and a dozen Englishmen. I replied that God was preaching to us, and we had better hear His voice. But I offered prayer, and when I closed I noticed that several men were shedding tears . . . A year afterwards an Englishman accosted me . . . saying he was one of the congregation on Snowdon, and was there led to Christ. He was now a Sunday-school teacher.

Two years afterwards, when I was [backpacking] near Snowdon, a man driving a cart . . . recognized me, and, speaking of that sunrise, said it resulted in the conversion of fifty people. I said that I had only offered prayer. He said, “Yes! And as they only spoke Welsh they did not understand a word you said; but the effect was a revival in the village churches near.”¹

“LORD, today we choose joy, prayer, and gratitude.”

¹Newman Hall, An Autobiography (London: Cassell and Company, Limited), p. 158.