◄ What Does 1 Thessalonians 5:25 Mean? ►

Prayer has been called 'the breath of the soul' and expresses the very essence of faith in our Heavenly Father. Prayer is the fruit of a humble and helpless heart that comes before the Lord in loving trust.

It is the means of two-way fellowship between the Lord of heaven and earth and His helpless child, and it is a most precious tool that God has given to each of His children. Prayer is the tool that encourages our continuous appeal to His Father-heart of love, for through it we find grace to find help in time of need. Prayer develops in each of us, an attitude of heart and mind that delights in continuous communion with the Lord Jesus.

Prayers, intercession, supplications, petitions, and thanksgiving are to be made for all men, and we are urged to: "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

The closer one grows to the Lord in prayer and praise, the more we rely on our prayerful communion with Him to supply all our needs, according to His riches in glory. The closer we draw to our God, the more we value the petitions and prayers that are offered, by others, on our behalf.

Jesus was the perfect example of a Man of prayer, by which He maintained unbroken fellowship with His Heavenly Father, from Whom He received strength, comfort, and direction. He was enabled to know and to carry out God’s perfect plan for His life – such that in all things God's will was done.

We have His assurance that the Lord our God hears, and answers, every cry of the heart and each prayer that is offered in faith. We have confidence through His Word, that He hears and answers our cry in accordance with His perfect will for our lives, and He has promised that even before we bring our prayers and petitions before His throne of grace, He hears and answers the faintest cry of His blood-bought children.

The apostle, Paul, was one whose prayer-life demonstrated a man who found His sufficient strength in the Lord. He also longed for others to grow in grace, mature in the faith, and develop their own close intercourse with the Lord Jesus – and so we discover many heartfelt prayers for the maturing of the saints throughout His writings.

But Paul also knew that he himself needed prayer – and in a number of his letters we hear the request: 'Pray for us – Brethren, pray for us!'

In this verse, we do not have a mirror into Paul's reason for this specific appeal for prayer, and yet we discover elsewhere, that his request for prayer is connected with the furtherance of the gospel – for the glory of God.

In his second letter to the Thessalonians, he asks the brethren: "Pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you." - while in his letter to the Colossians he writes from his prison cell: "And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains."

May we develop a right attitude towards prayer, and a purpose in our praying, which is in accordance with God's perfect will.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift and privilege of prayer. Thank You that I have confidence to come to You in prayer, not only for myself but also for others. I praise You that You hear and answer my every cry. Increase my desire to commune with You in prayer, and may I be so submitted to Your will, that Your Holy Spirit prompts the prayers I utter to be in accordance with Your perfect plan and for Your greater glory. This I ask in Jesus' name AMEN.