The Bible is full of prayers and snippets of prayers. There are the well-known prayers in the book of Psalms, personal and corporate expressions of the deepest human emotions. There are also prayers in many other places within the Bible too.
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes a short and succinct prayer which includes the words “pray without ceasing”. The prayer also speaks of giving thanks and rejoicing, but also holding on to what is good and avoiding evil. After this short reminder to do all this, there is a blessing to the people of Thessalonica and a reminder that God is faithful and will hear all prayer.
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold
fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.
23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, NRSV)
Awesome God
We rejoice that we are able to be in your presence,
that despite all that we have done, we are welcome by you.
We thank you for your Word,
spoken to us through your prophets, both in history and today.
We thank you for your Word,
spoken to us through your son, Jesus Christ.
Help us to hold on to all that is good,
and to turn away from all that is a stumbling block to you.
Grant us your peace, this day and every day.
Amen
You can download this Prayer for the Week here
Prayers for September by Revd Claire Rawlinson
Image: praying hands – photo by rawpixel on www.unsplash.com
