Rejoice always, Pray without ceasing, Give thanks in everything

Reference: 1The 5:16-18

Introduction

Paul encourages the church to rejoice , pray and to give thanks.
As we come to the end of the year we are encouraged to be a people who pray and speak to God. We must be a people who give thanks and pray if we are to please God. In addition Paul says he desires to do the will of God.The Bible says this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.

Three major things emphasized by Paul
1. Rejoice. It is to feel or show joy; to be full of joy.
Is it possible to rejoice always? Humanly speaking it may sound extremely difficult because of difficult things that we go through. We have times and season of happiness and it is easy for us to rejoice while during hard moments it becomes difficult for some to give thanks. Paul says we rejoice irrespective of what we are going through.
Phi 4:4- Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say it rejoice. It is only when we rejoice in the Lord that we are able to rejoice always, otherwise not on situations we are faced with difficult situations.
Rejoicing always calls for us to acknowledge the God of our salvation.
Hab 3:17 -18
When in desperate situations it is more likely for us to complain but we have to choose to rejoice in the Lord like Habakkuk who chose to rejoice in the God of his salvation.
Psalm 42:5
We should not be put down by our difficult circumstances but it pleases God when we give thanks in every circumstance. We have the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to rise above all circumstances.

2. Praying without ceasing

John 16:24 -there is a connection between joy and rejoicing. Have you ever prayed and received the exact results of what you expected? You feel very excited and full of joy. What if we make that habit of praying our lifestyle; our joy would be full always? God has promised a harvest of joy if we rejoice in Him.

3. Giving thanks

Thessalonians were going through challenges just like us, yet Paul tells them to rejoice in the Lord.
Being saved is a great blessing to thank and rejoice in the Lord. We are justified to stand before God today.
We should joy in the God of our salvation
Rom 8:28-29
All things work together for our good. God is still conforming us to the image of Christ. Whatever things coming to our way are coming to make us better. Until we know that, all is working for our good it will be very hard for us to give thanks and raise up our hands and praise God.

Conclusion

When we got saved we were born in the family of God. We are in the process of being made in the image of Jesus Christ. We must have an attitude of rejoicing in the Lord and be able to pray without ceasing so that we may attain the full measure of Jesus Christ.