Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we will close out conversing with God by focusing on what He desires.

In today’s scripture, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV), we’re told to…
[16] Rejoice always, [17] pray continually, [18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Consider…
Punctuation matters. When looking for today’s scripture, there were versions that placed periods behind rejoicing and praying individually. However, the Holy Spirit guided me to use the New International Version, which includes both as part of a continuous sentiment.

Similarly, Philippians 4:6 (NIV) tells us…
[6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Both this verse and today’s scripture shows us that God wants confidence, prayer and appreciation (C.P.A.) to be the bedrock of our conversations with Him.

Let’s explore each element of God’s desired conversation style.

Two verses before Paul tells us not to be anxious he emphasizes, in Philippians 4:4 (NIV)…
[4] Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Whenever I read this verse, I hear Israel Houghton singing…

Rejoice in the Lord always
And again I say, and again I say
Rejoice in the Lord always
And again I say, and again I say
Rejoice
Come bless the Lord, come bless the Lord
Draw near to worship Christ the Lord
And bless His name, His Holy name
Declaring He is good
O that men would praise Him
O that men would praise Him

And while the music is playing, I mosey over to the praise party in Psalms 150:1-6 (NIV), where we’re told to…
[1] Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. [2] Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. [3] Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, [4] praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, [5] praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. [6] Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Just then, I hear D.J. Kirk Franklin start the chant…

Ain’t no party like a Holy Ghost party cause a Holy Ghost party don’t stop.

This is the vibe that the LORD desires us to have when we engage Him in conversation.

We can come to God in a celebratory way because of our reverent recognition of who He is!

Psalms 100:1-5 (NIV) is a great tone setter for any conversation we’re going to have with God…
[1] Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. [2] Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. [3] Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. [4] Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. [5] For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Everytime we think about who God is, we should extol Him.

Anytime we think of how good God is, we should adore Him.

Thus, rejoicing is reverently recognizing who we’re talking to and being excited about Him!

So like Paul and Israel said, “again I say rejoice!”.

Now that we’re in the right frame of mind, we’re told to pray, which I dub…
Placing our
Requests
At
YHWH’s (Hebrew for LORD) throne

This acronym pressed play on Kirk Franklin’s song, which says…

At the altar you can tell
Jesus all about it
At the altar you can tell
What you heart has to say, hey, hey
You can tell how you need
How you thank Him and how you love Him
At the altar when you kneel to pray

As the song fades, I am reminded by Jesus in Matthew 6:5-8 (NIV)…
[5] “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. [6] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. [7] And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Two things stand out to me in Jesus’ preface to the Lord’s prayer…

• God desires the sincerity of our hearts, not the sophistication of our words.
• Prayer is simply confessing what God already knows.

I think we have a tendency to overcomplicate our conversations with God. Perhaps that’s another reason Jesus told us we need to become like little children. Think about it, little children simply ask for what they want in faith without explanation. God doesn’t need our explanations or excuses, instead He just wants our faith and confessions. As Tim Ross would say, God wants Honest, Open, Transparent (H.O.T.) prayers.

So I encourage you, revert to your childlike ways when asking God for what you want.

As I wrote that, the Holy Spirit reminded me the key to God affirmatively answering our prayers, is praying His will. The Holy Spirit also reminded me of how Jesus taught us to begin our prayers in Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV)…
[9] “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Notice, our prayers should begin with reverent recognition of God and His will.

Next the Holy Spirit also showed me the only way we can know God’s will is by letting Him transform our thinking. Romans 12:2 (NLT) explains…
[2] Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

We must pray for God’s will His way! That makes me think, one of our first requests should be Psalms 143:10 (NLT), which asks…
[10] Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

Pray yes to God’s will and He will answer yes to you.

Lastly, we’re told to thank God in all circumstances.

Notice, we’re not told to thank God for all circumstances, but in them. That’s because God remains good and faithful regardless of the circumstance. Whether we feel it or not, His…

• Unfailing love,
• Unending mercy, and
• Unlimited grace are actively working for our good.

Thus why we can sing with Marvin Sapp…

I thank You for it all
The good, bad, the ugly, great and small
The times of victory, and when I fall
I’m so grateful that I’m still standing tall
I thank You for my tears
The pain helped me overcome my fears
You’ve been good to me down throughout the years
It’s a miracle that I’m still standing here
All that I am is because of all that You brought me through
And everything I survived, it’s all because of You

As that song fades I hear Romans 8:28 (NLT), which encourages…
[28] And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

This is a popular passage that many Christian’s cling to in the midst of their storms. However, the Holy Spirit gave me a new insight on this verse, which is found in the subsequent verse. Romans 8:29 (NLT) explains…
[29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

I believe that the good that Paul speaks of in verse 28 is about being made more like Jesus.

Thus we should thank God because 1 John 3:2 (NLT) promises…
[2] Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

And we should thank God because 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)…
[9] That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Indeed we should give thanks to God regardless of our circumstances because Psalms 136:1-3 (NIV) instructs us to…
[1] Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. [2] Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. [3] Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

The key to thanking God in every circumstance is remembering that He is good and His unfailing love endures forever.

So, the next time you want to have a little talk with Jesus, rather than just telling all about your struggles, remember to…

• Rejoice in who God is
• Pray to become who He wants you to be
• Thank Him that regardless of your circumstances, He’s good and His unfailing love endures forever

Today’s song is…
Be Grateful

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)