Category Archives: Prayer

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THE WHOLE ENCHILADA

1 THESSALONIANS 5:23

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

I thought it interesting that Paul used the word “entirely.” And when I looked deeper it was even more interesting. Did you know that word is only used one time in the New Testament? So, what does it mean? It means to be wholly completed, to reach the end result. Paul is praying that the God of peace would perfect the Thessalonians’ sanctification. Can you imagine being completely, wholly sanctified on earth?

And Paul prays that their body, soul and spirit would be kept (guarded, protected) completely. “Completely” is only used twice itself. It means a divinely allotted wholeness. Wow! Only God is capable of anything divine, and He wants to guard you completely. What a promise and prayer from Paul!

APPLICATION

How do you explain completeness and entirety to children? Do your children like puzzles? I do. I enjoy a good puzzle. But one of the most frustrating things in the world is when you are missing pieces. The puzzle isn’t complete. The entire picture isn’t shown.

Get one of their puzzles and remove a piece before you start putting it together with them. They may recognize fairly quickly that a piece is missing, if they have put this puzzle together a lot. That could be even more frustrating. They know what the missing piece is. Explain to them that the Lord knows exactly what “pieces” we need in our lives. He has them all, if we will just let Him supply them and keep them.

What piece are you missing? Are you whole and complete in Him? He wants to sanctify you entirely. He wants to keep you completely. Will you let Him? 

Father, You are the ONLY one who can do that for me. I know that. Help me to surrender ALL my pieces to You today. I want You to “put me together” according to Your master plan.

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DON’T STOP

1 THESSALONIANS 5:17

“pray without ceasing;” 

Here is the other shortest verse in the Scriptures (at least in the original Greek). This verse is also just two words in the Greek, like the previous verse. But there is nothing short about its meaning. Pray without ceasing. How is that possible? Does Paul mean we should spend all our time on our knees? I don’t think so.

The word translated “without ceasing” is only used four times in the New Testament, three times in 1 Thessalonians (1:3, 2:13 and here). The other time it is used is in Romans 1:9. Now what is very interesting is that in ALL four times it is referring to prayer. What does that tell us? Don’t stop praying!

APPLICATION

Get your little Johnny or Susie to stand up and start running in place. Tell them not to stop until you tell them to. As they are running, talk to them about this verse. Explain how the Lord wants us to pray all the time. Ask them, as they are still running, if they think praying is tiring. Does praying wear them out? As they begin to pant for breath, they will probably say no or not at all.

Now, tell them to stop running and have a seat. Explain to them that praying unceasingly or constantly is possible because it is not a physical thing. It’s a spiritual activity. It’s an attitude of prayer. It’s a mindset that you are always heaven focused. You don’t hesitate to talk to God because you know He is always ready to listen. There is nothing tiring about that.

When do you pray? Do you only pray at certain points in the day? Make prayer a constant in your life. This word for “pray” literally means exchanging our desires for God’s. Don’t you think His desires for us are better than ours? Why wouldn’t you want His desires for your life? Tell Him that. Keep that conversation going all day every day.

Knowing You are always there encourages me to talk to You constantly, Lord. I know You are listening and ready to answer. Remind me today to keep the lines of communication open.

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