Daily Devotional for Wednesday, May 1

Be Joyful and Prayerful

“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 17.

Anna always had a smile on her face. Over the years, her face was creased and etched with laugh lines from a lifetime of contentment and joy. If anyone had a bad day, a short chat with Anna made him forget the day’s woes. She had a genuine joy that ran deep in her soul. One Wednesday night, the teen class at her church was charged with interviewing a member of the church. Everyone loved Anna, and three teens chose her so they went together. They were surprised to find out Anna had experienced deep, gut-wrenching loss twice in her life. When they asked how she made it through, she quoted 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 17. Long ago, she had adopted these two verses as life verses.

When Anna finished her race, church members stepped in to help her niece, her only remaining family, plan her memorial service. They found seventeen reminders of these verses in her home. Anyone who knew her knew her verses. In designing her headstone, everyone agreed it must read 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 17. Anna exemplified rejoicing and unceasing prayer. What a life! As Christians, we have reason to rejoice. In the verses prior to these, Paul and his team reminded the Thessalonians why they should rejoice. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 9). He encouraged them to “ever follow that which is good” (verse 15). When we focus on the good and on Christ’s gift of salvation, we can rejoice.

A prayerful life is a calm life. Even when life hits hard and struggles threaten to overtake us, if we are in constant conversation with our Father, we can have peace. Praying through difficult times strengthens us, but we must not forget to pray through easy times as well. We learn a lot about our Father when we spend time talking to Him.

THOUGHT
“Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17).

Kelli Reynolds