“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Today's verse tells us that the will of God for our lives are to rejoice, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstance. As we looked over John 17 this past Sunday we focused on prayer for fellow believers and prayer for the unbelievers. I first want to focus on the believers, including ourselves. We all know it's easy to rejoice and give thanks when life seems to be going great, but what about when we are fighting temptation? Do you find it hard to rejoice in the suffering? We see over and over the disciples finding joy and rejoicing in their sufferings, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:5 “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” Let's not just limit our thanksgiving to God for the good times. We can give thanks and rejoice knowing that he already won the battle for us. So, I ask you these questions: do you pray for fellow believers? Do you pray for growth and protection?
We then switched over to praying for those who may not believe in Christ as their Savior. We all have a sphere of influence, from family members to friends, to even strangers we meet while living our lives. Let us take time each day to pray for them. We all have the opportunity to make a gospel impact every single day. Let us not lose focus of that. As we begin the new year lets commit to praying for those around us, that they accept Jesus Christ, and when they do, we should rejoice with them as they cross over from death to life!
As we close our devotion today I encourage you take some time and pray for fellow believers, pray for those around you that do not know Christ. Let us also rejoice and give thanks for what God has done in 2024 and what he is about to do in 2025
Today's verse tells us that the will of God for our lives are to rejoice, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstance. As we looked over John 17 this past Sunday we focused on prayer for fellow believers and prayer for the unbelievers. I first want to focus on the believers, including ourselves. We all know it's easy to rejoice and give thanks when life seems to be going great, but what about when we are fighting temptation? Do you find it hard to rejoice in the suffering? We see over and over the disciples finding joy and rejoicing in their sufferings, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:5 “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” Let's not just limit our thanksgiving to God for the good times. We can give thanks and rejoice knowing that he already won the battle for us. So, I ask you these questions: do you pray for fellow believers? Do you pray for growth and protection?
We then switched over to praying for those who may not believe in Christ as their Savior. We all have a sphere of influence, from family members to friends, to even strangers we meet while living our lives. Let us take time each day to pray for them. We all have the opportunity to make a gospel impact every single day. Let us not lose focus of that. As we begin the new year lets commit to praying for those around us, that they accept Jesus Christ, and when they do, we should rejoice with them as they cross over from death to life!
As we close our devotion today I encourage you take some time and pray for fellow believers, pray for those around you that do not know Christ. Let us also rejoice and give thanks for what God has done in 2024 and what he is about to do in 2025