Turning Thoughts into Prayer
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing…”
And how do we do that! First, how do we rejoice always without denying the reality of our struggling emotions? And secondly, how do we pray without ceasing?
Now, we know that God is not excited about the mere vocabulary of praise if it doesn’t flow from the heart (Mt. 15:8-9). Rejoice always cannot mean “Just speak happy words in all circumstances,” for He values what’s going on in the heart more than what’s coming from the lips.
And we know God doesn’t wish that we’d speak only with Him, for we are to edify others with our speech—exhort, teach, encourage, prophesy.
Paul seems to be getting at something deeper. It’s as though he is saying that there is a posture of joy in God that is related to a position of on-going dialogue with Him. Paul expounds on this idea in Philippians 4:6. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (emphases mine).
Through an attitude of gratitude, we turn our cares into prayer.
We pour out our hearts before Him—every hurt, all worries, each struggle! And as we do so, we call to mind who God is and what He does. We perceive and process our struggles in light of His nature, His promises, and His faithfulness.
This is exactly what we find in the Psalms: utter honesty with God and radical trust in Him, so often viewed by moderns as mutually exclusive, are repeatedly brought together to give us the inner portrait of a saint’s soul. One who pretends he has no struggle is no saint, he is simply in denial! But, ah, one who admits struggle, yet sees it as grounds for God’s glory to be seen—there is one who is like Abraham and Moses and David.
So, we take our thoughts and turn them into prayer. And we take God’s thoughts, revealed in His Word, and turn them into prayer. We do not hide our struggles; we speak the words of God into them. Every thought of temptation, be it toward open immorality or some hidden darkness of heart (envy, anger, etc.), can be turned into dialogue with the Lord. We share. We ask Him questions. We listen. We repeat what He says.
We cherish who He is and what He says above all else. His promises are the words we live by. This posture of joy in Him equips us to live in a position of on-going dialogue with Him, a position that is much of how we walk in and with the Spirit, resisting the cravings of darkness that tug at us. We talk with Him! We commune—share thoughts. Our thoughts, His thoughts. And, in time, our thoughts become more like His. Our thoughts become captive to the knowledge of God, and they line up.
There’s a promise that Paul links with such prayer (notice how verse 7 follows verse 6!): “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). Peace is related to our attitude of gratitude that turns cares into prayer.
No matter what storm may be raging around you, or what disappointments may be crashing down upon you, if your life has become an on-going dialogue with the Lord, peace is your portion in Christ. It doesn’t mean you won’t struggle. It doesn’t mean that temptations won’t fly at you or stir within you. But peace will guard you in the onslaught of dark thoughts that would seek to take hold inside you.
The enemy will not find a foothold in you, because you will turn those thoughts into prayer.
Even if there already exists within you some old fortress of the enemy’s making—a stronghold whose roots stem from some past trauma or sin—it will not stay forever, because the new Guard will take over. Turning His thoughts and yours into dialogue with Him will eventually lead you to launch a victorious attack in the name of Christ against that old fortress.
Walking with Christ is a journey. He’s very patient with us. He doesn’t expect us to be perfected immediately. Possessing the land He has been promised (I speak figuratively, of our whole selves, for we are His inheritance as much as He is ours) is a process involving many battles—uprooting old kingdoms and establishing His. He is eager yet steadfast; He leads at just the pace we need for maximum growth.
One thing is for sure: we will not go very far with Him, if we don’t talk to Him along the way—turning our thoughts and His into prayer. And so we “rejoice always; pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17).
