Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.— 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
When things are going well, it’s easy to rejoice, to pray, and to give thanks. But Paul raises the bar when he says we should do these things: “... always ... without ceasing ... in all circumstances.” Now that’s a different story, isn’t it?
Surely if anyone knew this was a hard thing to do, it was the apostle Paul. He was stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19), beaten, and shipwrecked, (2 Cor. 11:25), sometimes narrowly escaping opponents who were furious with his gospel preaching (Acts 9:22–25). Is this what Paul had in mind when he wondered about the will of God for his life? Paul had scars that showed it’s not always easy walking in God’s will. Yet Paul calls us to joy, prayer, and gratitude—not just in the comfortable moments but even in the midst of tragedy, loss, and sorrow. He wrote similar instructions in his letter to the Christians in Rome: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12).
When it comes to considering major life decisions, it’s not always easy to answer the question, “What is the will of God for my life?” Maybe we wonder if we’ve made the right choice. But no matter the situation, joy, prayer, and gratitude are always the right answer.
Just one chapter earlier, Paul summarizes God’s will for his people another way: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). Sanctification is a gracious work of God in us that makes us more and more willing and able to die to our former, sinful ways, and instead to live godly lives.
Growing in godliness doesn’t mean getting out of hard times, but going to God in hard times. If you’re learning to find joy in God always, to go to him continually in prayer, and to thank him for his goodness in all things, then you can say with confidence that you’re walking in God’s will for you.
For example, consider this: What might it look like to “pray without ceasing?” Surely it doesn’t mean we sit in silence with our hands folded praying all day long. We have too many other God-given responsibilities to imagine that’s what Paul is saying. Puritan pastor Thomas Manton helpfully explained it this way: “All duties may be resolved into prayer and praise. Now as the life of a Christian is a life of love and praise, a kind of confession or hymn to God, so in other respects it is a prayer.”
Do you see? Praying is a way of life. The kind of life King David describes in Psalm 25:2: “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”
Footnotes
Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q/A 34.
Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 17, 493.
