Sunday Scripture

Here’s an excerpt from my sermon today titled “Pray & Believe”:

… The Bible says “keep on praying.” That’s a short 3-word verse in First Thessalonians Chapter 5. That’s actually the New Living Translation First Edition. That verse was updated for the Second Edition from “keep on praying” to “never stop praying”. Now it doesn’t mean to pray with every single breath and every waking moment. It means don’t give up when troubles come your way. Pray.

I learned this verse early on as a baby Christian. It helped me a lot:

Don’t worry about anything. Instead – pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. (Philippians 4:6)

I’ve heard it said that worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you can’t change. Prayer is a conversation you have with God about things He can change.

When I pray almost every sentence has the words “Thank You” in it. I thank God for the current situation. I thank the Lord for what He’s already done. I thank Him for what He’s going to do.

I like (Romans 12:12) – Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

You see when we rejoice in our confident hope – when we trust in Christ – we can be patient in times of trouble. Praying to God shows God that we truly trust in Him. Praying to God from the valleys confirms to Him that we believe that He is in control, and that He is right there with us – leading us out of the valley.

So who has this confident hope ?

The Bible says – We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something – (then) we don’t need to hope for it. (We don’t need to wait for it.) (Romans 8:24)
But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have – (then) we must wait patiently and confidently.) (Romans 8:25)
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example – we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. (Romans 8:26)
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. (Romans 8:27) …