God’s will for our life in 2025 is spelled out for us very specifically. It consists or rejoicing, praying, and thanking, and that continually.
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God’s Will For Your Life in 2025
1 Thess. 5:16-18
I like to do a New Year’s message every year to try to set the tone for the coming year. As I was reading through 1 Thessalonians recently, three verses really jumped out at me and said, “Preach me!” 1 Thess. 5:16-18
Notice Paul tells us what we must do: Rejoice – Pray – Thank
Paul tells us when we should do them: Always – Without Ceasing – In Everything
In other words, the things Paul is about to tell us are not something we do once in a while, or from time to time, or sporadically. These things make up our way of life as Christians. Our entire life should be filled with these three activities. We never take a break from them. We never take a vacation from them. We don’t live this way six days of the week and revert to our pagan lifestyle on the seventh day. We don’t live this way for 50 weeks of the year, and then revert to a pagan lifestyle for a two week vacation. This is our fixed and unalterable way of living. It doesn’t matter what we are going through – whether they are happy or sorrowful. This is our life 24/7/365.
The things Paul is going to command us to do are like breathing. We never stop breathing. If we do, we die! We are not always conscious of breathing, but we do it round the clock of every day of our lives. That is what rejoicing, praying, and thanking are like for the Christian.
One other thing we should notice about these 3 activities is that this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Have you ever wondered what God’s will is for your life? Well, wonder no more. The Bible is very clear and specific in this passage. God’s will for your life is to always rejoice, pray, and thank.
If we only focused on these three activities in 2025 we would have plenty to keep us busy and occupied! OK, let’s meditate on the three commands Paul gives us here.
1. Rejoice Always
Happiness and Joy are similar but different. A non-Christian can experience happiness, but not this joy. Happiness depends on what happens (happenstances, or circumstances). If it’s Christmas or your birthday, or you are on vacation you are happy. But if you get sick, your car is totaled, you lose your job, or get a traffic ticket you lose your happiness.
However, the Christian’s joy does not depend on his circumstances. His joy depends on his relationship to the Lord. Phil.4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always.” We are not told to rejoice in what is happening to us, but in the Lord.
What is true about the Lord never changes. That’s why we can rejoice always. Heb. 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
- Christ has been given all authority in heaven and earth
- Christ is full of great love and rich in mercy and full of grace
- Christ is the image of the invisible God, the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature
- Christ will never leave us or forsake us
- Christ has been exalted to the supreme place in all the universe
Brothers and sisters, those things about Jesus never change! That’s why you can always rejoice. Your circumstances change from day to day, but your Lord never changes.
Do you ever feel like you just need more strength to live out the Christian life? Neh. 8:10 “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
This joy is something you may experience even in the midst of great sorrow. Paul said in 2 Cor. 6:10 “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”
Application: Rejoice Always! If you find yourself getting down and depressed and gloomy, discipline yourself to fix your mind on the Lord. Remind yourself what is true about him. Remind yourself of who you are in Christ, your eternal destiny in Christ. You have died with Him. You are made alive together with Christ, raised with Him, seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. “Those whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” Preach the gospel to yourself! You are commanded to rejoice always!
2. Pray Without Ceasing
What does Paul mean by this command? If we take this literally it would mean we would do nothing but pray. We would never eat, sleep, work, or talk to other people. So, what does Paul mean?
Paul uses the same Greek word in Romans 1:9 “God is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you”. So how often did Paul make mention of the Romans in his prayer? Did he do this every second of every day? Of course not! There were many other things that occupied Paul’s thoughts and time. I think it means he prayed for them often and repeatedly. Whenever he went to prayer he thought of the Roman Christians and prayed for them. So too should be our life of prayer. It should be often and repeated.
I believe we should have both a disciplined time of prayer each day, and then spontaneous times of prayer throughout the day. For me, my time of prayer is after I have spent time listening to God in His Word first thing in the morning. Then I commune with God and speak to Him about what He has told me, and about all the people I know that need His help.
I also think to pray without ceasing means we are to have unbroken fellowship with God. Here’s a good test of whether something is sin for you. Can you do that thing while having communion with God? Can you ask God’s blessing on that thing you are doing? Can you give God thanks for the thing you are doing? If you can’t do that activity while having communion with God, then it is sin, and you must give it up.
Application: How are you doing regarding prayer? Would you characterize your prayer life as “without ceasing?” In Col. 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer.”
3. In Everything Give Thanks
Recently I have become fascinated with how much emphasis there is in the NT on the giving of thanks.
Eph. 5:4 “there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks”
Eph. 5:20 “always giving thanks FOR all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father”
Phil. 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Col. 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Col. 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
Heb. 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that [fn]give thanks to His name.
Rev. 4:9-11 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they [fn]existed, and were created.”
We are commanded to give thanks in everything and for all things. That means no matter how painful or bitter an experience is in our lives, we must find a way to give thanks. There is always something to thank God for in that thing. We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. God is causing even the bitter experiences to work together for our good!
Application: How are you doing with this command. Are you giving thanks in all things? Determine today that you will seek to make this your way of life, constant and unchanging, like breathing!
Conclusion
What would your life be like if you rejoiced always, prayed without ceasing, and gave thanks in everything? You would have the most satisfying, fulfilling, and delightful life of anyone on the planet! You would experience God’s peace continually! You would be living in unbroken fellowship with God.
And that’s the point! That’s the whole goal of the Christian life – unbroken fellowship with your God.
God has reconciled you to Himself through Christ. Now He wants you to live in unbroken fellowship!
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