Transcript

Ed Hill, who pastored a church in Los Angeles, tells the story of how “Mama’s” love and prayers changed his life. During the height of the Depression, Hill’s real mother, who had five children of her own, didn’t have enough food to go around, so she sent four-year-old Ed to live with a friend in a small country town called Sweet Home.

Ed just called her Mama. As he was growing up in Sweet Home, Mama displayed remarkable faith which led her to have big plans for young Ed.

Against nearly insurmountable obstacles, Mama helped Ed graduate from high school (the only student to graduate that year from the country school) and even insisted that he go to college. She took Ed to the bus station, handed him the ticket and 5 dollars and said, “Now, go off to Prairie View College, and Mama is going to be praying for you.”

Hill claims that he didn’t know much about prayer, but he knew Mama did. When he arrived at the college with a dollar and ninety cents in his pocket, they told him he needed eighty dollars in cash in order to register.

Here’s how Hill describes what happened next: I got in line and the devil said to get out of line but I heard my Mama saying in my ear, “I’ll be praying for you.”

I stood in line on Mama’s prayer. Soon there was [another new student ahead of me], and I began to get nervous, but I stayed in line. Just about the time [the other student] got all of her stuff and turned away, Dr. Drew touched me on the shoulder, and he said, “Are you Ed Hill?” I said, “Yes.” “Are you Ed Hill from Sweet Home?”

“Yes.” “Have you paid yet?” “Not quite.” “We’ve been looking for you all this morning,” [he said]. I said, “Well, what do [you] want with me?”

“We have a four-year scholarship that will pay your room and board, your tuition, and give you thirty dollars a month to spend.” And I heard Mama say, “I will be praying for you!”

We see reasons to rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in that story. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 contain 3 short faith-based commands. They each require seeing the unseen and trusting the Lord.

These are things that God wants us to do, because He is deeply involved in our lives. And we are taught to do these things ALWAYS because they are continually appropriate and needed because God is always there and always working.

1 Thessalonians 5:16: “Rejoice evermore.”

Two words, unambiguous, clear, not in need of much interpretation, but deep in meaning and opening up for us a wide range of responsibility.

A fun bit of trivia is that though “Jesus wept” is the shortest verse in the English, “Rejoice evermore” is actually the shortest verse in the Bible based on the original Greek.

And in the original Greek, the word for “rejoice” is a command. It is a command to, “Rejoice evermore,” with no qualifiers, no caveats, no exceptions, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. This is not optional for believers. This is an imperative, not an option.

Also, in the Greek, the order is reversed and the literal translation would be, “Evermore rejoice,” or at all times rejoicing.

The word order in the Greek is the way emphasis is made. So the emphasis is not primarily on rejoicing, the emphasis is primarily on doing it at all times.

What this teaches us is that the command to rejoice is not dependent upon positive circumstances, because things are not always positive in life. But God’s Word is clear that joy and rejoicing is to be a way of life for the believer.

Sometimes joy seems elusive. We might experience brief encounters with joy but they seem to be the exception, rather than the rule. So how can we always be joyful?

First it is important to differentiate between happiness and God’s joy. Happiness is based only on positive circumstances. Happiness is related to the word “happenings,” and it’s about being happy when the things happening in our life are good and pleasant.

Happiness is often based on earthly pleasures. You follow the impulses of your heart and if you get what your heart wants, you’re happy.

You see something, you want it, you go shopping, you get it, you buy it, you find there’s a certain euphoria in that experience of getting what you wanted. There’s a thrill of a moment, a temporary joy and happiness, but it quickly fades away.

Living in pursuit of happiness deceives because it never really satisfies. Because worldly happiness is momentary and dissipates fast, and this is why people move from material thing, to material thing, to material thing, and on and on.

It’s also why people will often move from person to person to person in relationships because they need and want that thrill and happiness it gives them.

But this temporary happiness can never be ultimately fulfilled.

So many live their life controlled by temporary joy and happiness and by the expectations of people and the world around them who do the same thing.

Steve Brown writes, “The most unhappy person in the world is not someone who didn’t get what he or she wanted. The most unhappy person is the one who got what he or she wanted and then found out that it wasn’t as wonderful as expected.

“The secret of joy in life is not to get what you want but to live content with what you’ve got. Most of us spend our lives concentrating on what we don’t have instead of thanking God for what we do have. Then we wake up, our life is over, and we missed the beauty and joys of the present.”

We should rejoice and thank God for what we have now. For the stage of life we’re in now. For the ages our children and grandchildren are now. For the home we have now. For the blessings of life we have now. So we don’t miss the joys and beauty of now. Living conscious of our treasures from God’s hand now, we find joy, life and fulfillment.

There is a joy in life that only God can give, which has true meaning and brings fulfillment. The joy we’re talking about though is not natural. It’s a supernatural joy, something that comes from God, not from our humanness.

It is not a humanly produced emotion, it is a joy that is spiritually produced by the Holy Spirit as we grow in Christ and trust God’s Word (Gal. 5).

It’s a joy that can’t be touched or moved because it’s below the surface. It’s unaffected by the winds and the waves and chaos of experience on a human level.

The believer’s joy is not a wild emotion on top of a giddy feeling. It’s a fruit on top of truth. It’s a response to what I know to be true about God and His Word.

As we live by faith and focus by faith on our relationship with the Lord, we can rejoice always. But God’s joy is not automatic. It is a fruit that grows in our life. We find it over time with work, discipline, and obedience to God’s Word.

Psa. 5:11 says, “But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them: let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee.”

Joy can be the constant experience of the believer as we are joyful in God. God is the source and subject of true joy. It is our understanding of the character and nature of God that anchors true joy. It’s knowing that He is faithful, loving, and good all the time.

Obeying the command to “Rejoice evermore” begins with a deep-down confidence and trust that God is in control and He is working everything out for our good in His time.

Now this doesn’t mean that we rejoice at the death of a loved one, physical pain, sickness, loss of a house or a job, relationship issues, etc. It means we rejoice in God and His control. We rejoice that we have Him always. We rejoice looking at eternal things.

No circumstance affects joy in God, because no circumstance can change what we have in God and nothing can separate us from His love. Joy is found in knowing God is working, and that He cares and is always there. So no event affects it, good or bad.

No acquisition affects it and no loss affects it. No gain affects it, no deprivation affects it. God’s joy is not related to your position in life or your possessions in life, it’s based in your faith in God, in knowing that you have God in your life always, and that He cares.

Believers are called to walk by faith, to live trusting the Lord, and this command of God, to rejoice always, is a call to always live by faith, and live in light of eternity.

As we trust Him with the whole of our lives and know all its circumstances and experiences are in His hands, that He has a plan and a purpose, and that He is working all things together for our good and His glory, we can “rejoice evermore.”

And thus Paul could write in 2 Cor. 6:10, “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Even though he was experiencing sorrow, he could still rejoice, because he kept his eyes on the Lord by faith. Thus Paul says to “rejoice in the Lord always” in Philippians 4:4.

Peter writes of the Lord, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8).

Rejoicing is connected to our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We find joy unspeakable in Him. We rejoice because of we have a Savior and Lord who loves us, and the hope we have because of Him.

Romans 5:11 says, “we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the [reconciliation].” God’s joy springs from the joy of our salvation in Christ.

We rejoice evermore because we are saved forevermore and have a relationship with God forevermore, because of the finished work of Christ. We have eternal salvation and all spiritual blessings in Christ upon which to base our joy.

And God’s joy is connected to the Scriptures. Joy is experienced and produced in our lives from God by the Holy Spirit as we understand and grow in His Word.

Jeremiah said, “Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts” (15:16). God’s Word produces God’s joy in us.

The promises of God for us, who is forever faithful to them and who cannot lie, bring the fruit of joy in our life. In this context, “Rejoice evermore,” is written in light of the Rapture, and at the Rapture we will experience meeting our Savior, reunion with saved loved ones, being delivered from the Tribulation, and then being forever with the Lord. In light of these promises for us, we should “rejoice evermore.”

Believers should be the most joyful people of all. We know where we are going after we die. We are forgiven and blessed in Christ. We have a divine purpose in life. We know why we’re here. We have a Manual to guide us through life, and to live a meaningful, transformed life for God’s glory. And we know that Christ is coming again for us.

And God’s joy emerges from a heart that’s free from burdens and the way to be free of burdens is to release them through continual prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.”

George Mueller writes: “It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone. As if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.”

Paul teaches the Body of Christ in his epistles to just pray, to pray all the time, to pray for everything, to pray faithfully, to pray persistently. The reason he does so is because prayer is essential for growth in our relationship with God and in the Christian life. It’s vital to our spiritual health and growth.

Luke 18:1 records how, in His ministry to the nation Israel under the law, our Lord “spake a parable to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint [or to not quit].”

Under grace, our Lord through Paul tells us, the Church, the Body of Christ, the same, to always pray and to not faint, to never quit praying.

To pray without ceasing is to know by faith that God is always there, always caring, always wanting us to turn to Him, and that He hears all our prayers as we pray all the time. To pray all the time is to be aware of God’s presence in our lives at all times.

It is to live in continual God consciousness, relating every experience in life to Him. In prayer we center our minds and hearts on our personal relationship with Him.

Sometimes you hear statements like, “What’s the point in praying? God knows everything anyway. It’s not like we’re telling Him something He doesn’t already know!”

But we pray, because God teaches us to pray, and we know that prayer does change things according to God’s perfect will.

And it is important to remember also, that prayer is something God uses to change us. It teaches us to be dependent on God, to live by faith, to think with His mind and heart. It teaches us to be caring and selfless, as we pray for others and their good.

Prayer is not sending God to run on our errands. Prayer does not prepare God to do our will, prayer is something God uses to prepare us to do His will.

Prayer releases the power of God in our lives. A prayerless believer is a weak believer. A prayerless church is a weak church. A prayerless nation is a weak nation.

Prayer does not need proof; it needs practice. There are countless examples of the power of prayer. We just need to pray, to pray more, and to pray without ceasing, and let God work through our prayers.

We’re called to pray and talk with the Lord as a way of life in our journey home to Him. God wants prayer to fill the Christian life.

Praying unceasingly means to continually send quick prayers of faith to the Lord throughout the day, having a running conversation with the Lord throughout each day.

Praying without ceasing isn’t about audible words or having a set time for it, but that there’s always this openness that thrusts everything in your life to God.

Unceasing prayer is an attitude in which I view the world and all that is going on around me and it translates into prayer and talking to the Lord about it.

There are teachings out there that say God is far removed and far away and does not care about our day to day life and activities. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

We pray without ceasing knowing that He is interested and involved in every area of our lives. God wouldn’t tell you to pray without ceasing unless He cared without ceasing for you. He wants you to come to Him with all requests, all cares, all needs, all worries, all concerns. Nothing is too small or insignificant.

Praying without ceasing is a constantly expressed dependence. And there is never in the life of a believer a moment when we don’t need the Lord, and to depend on Him.

That’s how we live our lives and where the strength for the Christian life is: in dependence on the Lord, and so we need to pray always in that dependence.

Praying without ceasing is about recognizing our insufficiency and God’s sufficiency and thus taking everything directly to the power supply for our lives, and relying on Him and His strength and wisdom and supply.

These 3 verses are all tied to prayer. As we rejoice evermore, we express our joy and rejoicing to God through prayer, and in every thing we give God thanks, through prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

The story is told about a man who decided to fly his lighter-than-air balloon all the way around the world. So, on Day 1, he planned to fly from City A to City B. But a wind came along that he hadn’t counted on & he found himself being forced to land in City C.

He didn’t know much about City C. But that is where he found himself, so he stayed there for a while and discovered that it was a pretty nice place to be. He saw all the sights, enjoyed the people, & made new friends in City C.

Then he decided to fly from City C to City D. But another contrary wind came and forced him to land in City E. He didn’t even know that City E existed, but there he was.

So he met the people, absorbed their culture, looked at all the sights, and made new friends in City E, too.

He made his way around the world, not exactly landing everywhere he had planned, landing in different places from time to time, but finding blessings everywhere he went.

Life is a lot like that, isn’t it? You may be at A, thinking that you’re going to B. But something happens, and suddenly you find yourself at C. That wasn’t what you had planned, but you find blessings at C you didn’t even know existed.

So wherever we are, in whatever circumstance, we can thank God and learn to be content with the blessings that He showers upon us in whatever place He takes us in life, and in the things He teaches us in them, and in how He brings us closer to Himself by them.

“In everything” means “everything” that comes along in life. It’s very broad, and has no limits or confines. No matter what it might be, no matter what happens, in all circumstances, “give thanks.”

In everything good that happens in our lives, we should remember to give God thanks: engagements, weddings, the birth of our children, anniversaries, graduations, vacations, time together with those we love, and so on is reason and call to give God thanks for these things. It is His will.

But again, this is a faith-based instruction. And not everything that comes along in life is good. It’s been rightly put: Life isn’t a bowl of cherries. Sometimes it’s the pits.

We’re not told to give thanks FOR everything that happens to us, but we can give thanks IN all our circumstances.

Thankfulness in all things is based on our understanding of the character of God, that He is good, wise, caring, and perfect, that He can’t make mistakes.

Giving thanks in everything sees beyond our circumstances to the plan of God, to the sovereignty of God. It sees the hand of God in everything.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Because “we know” Romans 8:28 is true, and we trust it by faith, then we can give thanks at all times, in all circumstances.

No matter what our circumstances, we can always give thanks to God for His working, trusting and knowing that He is “in” them all, working all things together for our eternal good and His glory.

When things happen in our lives that we don’t understand and are beyond our control, we are to “give thanks” because we know He’s in control, that He is good, and that He cares about our life.

And by giving thanks when it’s hard to do it, when we don’t understand why things happen, we are acknowledging that God’s wisdom is greater than ours.

In plenty or in need, in palaces or in prison, in security or uncertainty, in good health or sickness, by faith we give thanks to God.

Take away our homes, our jobs, our health, anything and everything; and the believer still can always thank God for the unspeakable gift of His Son, His sacrificial death, the forgiveness of all our sins, our eternal life and home in heaven, and all our spiritual blessings that we have because of Christ and in Christ.

We see thankfulness in everything from the example of people in Scripture: Think of Paul and Silas in prison after having been wrongly beaten, thrown into the inner dark, dank, prison, put in stocks and in the middle of the night they were heard praying, singing, praising God anyway.

When the decree was signed in Babylon for all to pray only to King Darius for a month or face the lion’s den, Daniel 6:10 says this when Daniel received this bad news:

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house… he kneeled upon his knees and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”

With courage, knowing he may face the lion’s den for it, he prayed anyway, and with faith he thanked God even though he didn’t know why this was allowed to happen.

Thankfulness in everything is something we do by faith in dependence on God, in His strength and wisdom, and as we are filled with the Spirit and look at life through God’s eyes.

John Ortberg writes, “God isn’t at work producing the circumstances I want. God is at work in bad circumstances to produce the me He wants.” We can give Him thanks in all things that we go through knowing this is true.

As we are more and more transformed by God’s grace and His Word and live a life of faith in Christ, we can rejoice evermore, pray with ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.