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Devotional 5.9.25

 

May 9, 2025 – Pray Without Ceasing

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 69

You may notice the italicized word, Selah, is subtly right justified at various places in many of the psalms. Selah is typically thought to indicate a pause, or point of rest or reflection in the text. It can serve as a musical or liturgical cue to stop and contemplate the preceding text or verse. David is crying out to God to save him in Psalm 69, which doesn’t have any Selah’s noted. This is how our loving, relational, intimate God invites us to come to him. As Paul reminded the church in Thessalonica – pray without ceasing. We don’t have to pause, or wait to have it all together, our doubts diminished, or burdens gone before crying out and being held in our Lord’s loving, gracious arms.

The first song we’ll sing together on Sunday is “This I Believe,” which is a profession of what we believe about the Trinity. The Godhead, Three-in-one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, allows us to run to Him without pause. “Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery” reminds us that Jesus came to us in frail humanity. In other words, he gets us (Hebrews 4:15-16). In “All I Have is Christ” we sing Hallelujah for the love displayed on the cross. We’ll hear “Your Labor is Not in Vain.” Whatever your daily calling is – wife, mother, husband, father, missionary, CEO, medical professional, student, accountant, server, caregiver – you have been called by name, your labor is not in vain, and Jesus is with you. Finally, “Lamb of God” is another reminder of how much Jesus loves you (Rom. 5:8).

Further reading: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11; Matthew 11:25-30; Mark 10:13-16; Romans 15:13

Reflection Questions:

1.     What are some of the things that make you pause, or hold back, from authentically praying without ceasing?

2.     Do you think of your routine, daily calling as being important kingdom work? Why or why not?

Prayer:

Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and inviting me to come to you, to pray without ceasing and pour my heart out to you. Thank you for being a relational and intimate God who took on flesh in the person of Jesus so that through his life, death and resurrection I can be in your presence for eternity. Help me to live my daily life, the ways that you’ve called me, faithfully in response to these truths.

A playlist of this week's worship songs can be found here.

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