“Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;”

We must pray and not cease…

The Apostle instructs us to continue in prayer and to not give up. We pray and watch for answers and the over arching will of God in all things. We should know the mind of God so that we can ascertain what His will would be because we know his character so well. We can see the work of His will in our own life and therefore get to know His purposes for us and how He works in the life of other people as well. This will inform our prayers and we will pray according to his will, and He will hear us. 

As we watch for the outworking of our prayers and the will of God we will be filled with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the burning fuel of the Christian life. It enervates and powers all the praise, worship, service and love for the Lord Jesus. The grateful heart continually rehearses the mercies it has received and this feeds the constant flow of thankful prayer to God. Gratefulness is the fountain head of the power of God in the life of the Christian. The constant flow of it wears away the rock of the hardness of our heart and makes it conform to the will and purpose of the Lord and not the selfishness of our own way. 

As we then pray, we will be looking for the outworking of answers to our prayers with joy and faith. As we see the answers to our prayers we will give thanks in gratitude to the mercy shown to us that God should include us in his will in this way. We will have the victory over the gloom that naturally infests our minds and will rejoice in God our Saviour. 

“Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

This is the key to the victory over sin and temptation in the Christian life. It is the path of rejoicing and the living of a life full of gratitude to the Lord for all His love. This is the will of God for every Christian and the powerhouse of the overcomer. Continue in prayer…