21 Days of Prayer: Day 16 - Dr. Paul Looney
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“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)
This is a day we will never forget – 9/11! The attacks made on the Twin Towers in New York were beyond our belief and out of our control. History records the heartbreaking loss of life and tragedy that followed these terrorist attacks on our nation. “Some 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania (where one of the hijacked planes crashed into the ground after the passengers attempted to retake the plane); all 19 terrorists died. Police and fire departments in New York were especially hard-hit: hundreds rushed to the scene of the attacks, and more than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed.”
Yet the response and heroism of so many united our nation in a collective effort that demonstrated even in the worst of times when circumstances were out of control, there were choices we could make that would bring out the best in us!
What can you do when life is out of your control? Maybe it’s an unforeseen tragedy that strikes and leaves you stunned and paralyzed for the moment. It’s too surreal to even believe it is happening, and you struggle to accept it. It could be the loss of a loved one, a spouse who walked away, a son or daughter in rebellion and you can’t bring them back, a financial reversal, or an unexpected diagnosis you never saw coming despite all your efforts to live a healthy life. Life is unpredictable and often out of our control. Still, there is hope. The Bible offers three choices we can make when circumstances are beyond our control.
Choose Joy! As counterintuitive as that sounds, even when our hearts are broken, we can choose to rejoice. This isn’t about happiness. This is a joy in the Lord as Paul wrote to the Philippians, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice!" in Philippians 4:4 (NKJV). Again in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 (NLT), he writes, “Always be joyful.” How do you do that? An Old Testament Prophet, Habakkuk, who lived in the perilous times of Israel’s history, gives us this insight into choosing joy when our natural response would otherwise crush us in discouragement and complaint, when he writes this, “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NLT) We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we don’t have to fall victim to them. We can choose to rejoice in our God and place our lives in His care and control.
Choose Gratitude! In 1 Thessalonians 5:18a (NLT), Paul adds to the joy challenge with this, “Be thankful in all circumstances….” Gratitude produces joy. You can’t be grateful and gripe or complain at the same time. It’s one or the other. Which do you choose? A grateful heart isn’t being thankful for all things but in all things. Paul was not teaching that we should thank God for everything that happens to us but in everything. Evil does not come from God, so we should not thank Him for it. But when evil strikes, we can still be thankful for God's presence and for the good that He will accomplish through the distress. In Romans 5:3-5 (NLT), he gives us more insight into how He does that, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.” We can be thankful that God is shaping our character and maturing us in Christ using every circumstance, not despite them.
Choose Prayer! Paul gives us the key to constant joy and gratitude when he writes, “Never stop praying.” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT). Just three simple words in this verse unlock the prison of circumstance that would victimize us the rest of our lives in bitterness and despair. Tomorrow we’ll take a deeper dive into a life of unceasing prayer and how we can live one.
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.