Full Focus

Yesterday a few friends and I got together to discuss, pray and read the Bible. A few verses stuck out to me. As I read, I discovered a few things I hadn’t given much thought before. Here are the verses:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The initial thing that I thought of as we dived into the discussion was this: is there not a time for mourning, sadness and grief? But as we dove deeper into those verses, a few things hit me at full focus.

First of all, “rejoice always,” in reality, demonstrates always being optimistic and confident that everything will turn out in the end. It doesn’t mean to have a smile on my face every second of the day; it simply means to keep away from depressing feelings and insecurities, and ultimately know God is guiding your life, like a brush against a canvas, one stroke at a time. This roller-coaster life really has a way of taking you to the unexpected, so it is important that you keep your head up even when the sky seems to be falling.

The passage saying “pray continually” struck me immediately. How can you pray unceasingly? We’re all sinful and it seems impossible to always be thinking about or talking to God. But it doesn’t mean it’s vital to pray so persistently that it’s nearly impossible to think about anything else; as an alternative, it means we should pray no matter what the situation; it’s casual but essential. Mark Driscoll put it this way: “Prayer is just talking to Dad.” It doesn’t get any more real. Prayer is simply chatting with God, informing God, answering God, asking God, and thanking God — it’s just a conversation.

The last statement, “give thanks in all circumstances,” wraps up the idea of constant hope. No matter what the situation, there really is always a reason to be grateful. God appreciates it when we appreciate what He has given us. It’s about content, gratitude and humility.

I’m so excited to know how much this can affect anyone’s faith — to put everything on the spotlight — that there is hope without end, that praying strengthens our relationship with our Father and that gratitude is necessary to make it all happen.