Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God

If you want to know how to grow up spiritually, if your heart desires to know what God’s will is for your life, you’ve come to the right place today. On the heels of knowing God’s will, comes this illustrative story from the lips of F.B. Meyer. Myer was a Baptist Pastor and Evangelist whose life spanned England’s 19th and 20th centuries. When crossing the Irish Channel one dark starless night, F. B. Meyer stood on the deck by the captain and asked him, “How do you know Holyhead Harbor on so dark a night as this?” He said, “You see those three lights? Those three must line up behind each other as one, and when we see them so united we know the exact position of the harbor’s mouth.”¹ We are going to see in this week’s podcast that there are three things — three lights if you would — that have to line up in your life to be able to guide your ship into the harbor of God’s will. Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

The Value of Casting Your Care on the Lord

[Tweet “All Jesus’ followers should rejoice, pray, and give thanks.”]

Read the Notes

You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Rejoice, pray, and give thanks are monumental pillars in a believer’s life. Set them as the cornerstones of your house.

Join the Conversation

Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: What’s your testimony on these three pillars of the Christian life? Share your story of rejoicing, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all things.

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

Subscribe to the Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

Note: Pocket Casts is available on the App Store or Google Play.

Pocket Casts

iTunes PlayerFM

Share the Love

If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

Prayer

Father God, help us today to always be about your business only clinging to your most holy will for our lives. It’s our desire to do your plan and to do it your way. We thank you for the divine enabling to do just that. We give you all the glory for these things in Jesus Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

Doing God’s Will: A Power-Packed Pair of Triplets

We are in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 16.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (ESV) — 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

So, we are calling what we read here a power-packed pair of triplets: rejoice, pray, and thanksgiving.
Doing these three things is God’s will for all Jesus’ followers.
And here’s the truth — it’s God’s will for us together as a group as well as individually.
We should rejoice, pray, and give thanks when we gather together as a group in the church — as a group in Sunday school, community groups, or whatever fellowships or company we find ourselves in.
Of course, when we disperse to our home lives, we remain the same because we are who are no matter where we go.
So, we continue this rejoicing, praying, and giving of thanks taking it out into our everyday lives because it’s just a part of who we are.
All Jesus’ followers should rejoice.
Every worshipper of God the Father should pray.
And, all born-again folk should give thanks.
Let’s go ahead and take these up one at a time.

The Will of God Is to Rejoice

Notice the order of these things three things we can do to operate in the will of God.
Rejoice comes first — the pray and, then lastly, give thanks.
Now we know from the scripture that the last two, pray and give thanks, are interwoven together.

Philippians 4:6 (ESV): — 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

You see ‘prayer and supplication with thanksgiving’ are joined together.
What God has joined together let not man separate.
Now, I don’t know if you realize it but this passage in Philippians four and the set of verses we’re looking at in First Thessalonians mirror each other.
Look at it.
In Thessalonians, we rejoice, pray, and, give thanks.
In Philippians, we refuse to worry, pray, and give thanks.
Philippians tells you what not to do – don’t worry.
Thessalonians tells you what to do – rejoice.
Instead of worrying, rejoice.
The word rejoice is the one we want to look at and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word rejoice means to be in a state of happiness and well-being.
It means to rejoice, it means to be glad.²
Believers in Jesus should be happy folk.
That means no down days!
Now, I didn’t say you wouldn’t have opportunities to have down days.
We just read in Philippians 4:6, be anxious for nothing.
How do you come to a place of ‘no anxiety, a place where we can truly rejoice?’

1 Peter 5:6–7 (ESV) — 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

What does the word anxieties mean?
In Greek, it is a feeling of apprehension or distress in view of possible danger or misfortune.
The word ‘worry’ can be expressed in some languages using an idiom.
An idiom is a group of words or, a phrase that has a meaning other than the literal meaning of the words.
I just gave you the literal meaning of the word translated ‘anxieties’ – a feeling of apprehension or distress in view of possible danger or misfortune.
But there are idioms that you can use that convey the same thought just in more colorful, not so literal, language.
I’ll give you an example of an idiom used in the English language.
‘I made it by the skin of my teeth.’
I just got to work on time by the skin of my teeth.
You’re trying to convey the fact that you accomplished your goal, but it was really close — you just barely made it.
An idiom for anxiety is ‘to be killed by one’s mind’ or ‘to be pained by thinking.’³
Anxiety is pain in the mind — you’re killing yourself because of the stress generated by your apprehension.
To get to the rejoicing part we must make sure we handle this anxiety part.
Give your mind a break — take control of it by casting all your worry upon him’ — ‘leave all your worries with him.’
The Greek word ‘casting’ is the next word we want to look at.
Louw Nida says this word ‘casting’ is an idiom, literally ‘to cast or to throw cares upon.’
Casting means to stop worrying and to put one’s trust in someone—‘to put one’s cares upon, to leave one’s worries to; to cause responsibility for something to be upon someone—‘to put the responsibility on, to make responsible for; ‘put upon him all responsibility for your cares’ or ‘make him responsible for all your worries’
Okay, how do you do this?
How do we cause God to be responsible for those things that are causing us anxiety?
How do you cast your cares upon Him?
Well, first you have to admit that it’s wonderful that He wants to do it.
He’s pretty serious about it.
The Lord does not want you to worry — not one time.
He has said on so many occasions to me in my spirit, ‘It’s okay — it’s okay.’
And, every single time He has said this to me, it was okay — one hundred times out of a hundred.
You arrive at a place of no anxiety when you humble yourself and obey the Bible’s commandments to cast all your care upon the Lord.
In a given situation, you do this once and for all.
‘Lord, I turn this situation, that is causing a churn in my stomach over to you. That means you are now responsible for how all of this turns out.’
Since you are responsible, I don’t have to figure out how I need to handle this.
If there is something I need to do, you will let me know.’
Now it may take you a bit to get it over there and your mind may want to continue to travel over the same road that caused the churn in your stomach in the first place.
Stay with it — get the situation over into His hands and then start thanking Him for handling it for you.
That’s what we read in Philippians four — six.
Let’s hear that again.

Philippians 4:6 (ESV): — 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Don’t be anxious first – cast your care upon Him.
Pray and give thanks for God handling the situation.
Then, comes the peace of God to help you with your heart and mind.
That’s wonderful — isn’t it?
This is vital in the whole prayer and giving thanks piece.
Before you ever get to the place of prayer, before you ever lift your voice and say, ‘Father in the Name of Jesus, you should exchange worry for rejoice.
You should rejoice before you pray.
You rejoice before you give thanks that God heard your prayer.
We should rejoice together and we should rejoice when we are apart.
Rejoice then pray.
You know some people are so burdened – ‘Oh will you please pray for me — this is not going right and that’s not going right for me.’
‘Lord take this burden from me.’
You’re wasting your time praying that — God’s already taken your burdens.

Isaiah 53:4 (ESV) — Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

What do you want to carry burdens, for — why do you want to haul around griefs and sorrows?
He’s already done it!
So, if He’s already done it, why not be happy about the fact that He’s already done it?
How about acting like He’s already delivered you?
You don’t have to have sad Mondays and terrible Tuesdays.
You can look forward to the rising of the sun and the going down of the same.
Because things in God are always on the upside.
We go from glory to glory is what the scripture says.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV): — 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

But read the very next verse in chapter four, verse one – now, you know Paul didn’t write in chapter and verse.
Second Corinthians 4:1 is part of 3:18.

2 Corinthians 4:1 (ESV) — 1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

We go from glory to glory and we do not lose heart.
We are an encouraged people and we are rejoicing.
Now, outwardly, you may not see a reason to rejoice.
The Thessalonians didn’t either.
Things were not so hot for Jesus’ followers.
The government didn’t understand these upstart Jesus followers.
It’s not uncommon for people to persecute what they don’t understand.
It happened to the believers in Thessalonica.
They lived in a time where the whim of the Emperor could get you killed.
What kind of stress do you think that might put you under?
But, First Thessalonians 1:6 tells us that none of these things mattered.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 (ESV) — 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

If these young believers can receive the Word of God in the midst of massive amounts of pressure and be happy about it at the same time, you certainly can as well.
You can be in the squeeze box and be outrageously happy.

Proverbs 15:13–15 (ESV) — A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. 14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. 15 All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.

This passage in Proverbs gives us three outstanding facts about being happy.
First happiness affects your face: A glad heart makes a cheerful face.
This same person who has a happy heart is that way because he feeds on the knowledge of God.
He’s always seeking knowledge.
He’s always praying along this line.

Ephesians 1:16–18 (ESV) — 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of [revelation] in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know…

Revelation, hearing from God, the eyes of your heart popping wide open makes you a happy guy, a happy girl.
Now look, I’ve been on the other side of this thing.
I’ve been grumpy and I’ve been happy – happy is better.
And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.

Christians are the only people in the world who have anything to be happy about.⁴

How does that compare with this quote?

The day of individual happiness has passed.

Do you know who said that? — Adolf Hitler.
No happiness is a godly state.
Happy is the man whose God is the Lord.

The Will of God Is to Pray without Ceasing

The second commandment we have in this list of three is to pray without ceasing.
The Greek word ‘without ceasing’ means constantly or pertaining to not ceasing from some continuous activity—‘not ceasing, not stopping, unceasingly, continuously.’⁵
Once again, this is as a group as well as individually.
Now some silly people have been trying to figure out how to pray constantly.
They interpret this unceasingness as every moment of every day — every second of every hour.
Now, that’s just not reality.
One gentleman asked Smith Wigglesworth about his prayer life.
Smith said, I never pray longer than half an hour but I never go more than half an hour without praying.
Now, that’s better.
I heard one great person of prayer say that you put your mind on God and then of course your mind has to be engaged in the different aspects of life, like work, but as soon as you finish with these areas, your mind goes back to God.
That’s good too.
How do we know that praying without ceasing doesn’t mean every moment of every day?
How can we be sure?
Well, one rule of Bible Interpretation is that scripture interprets scripture.
You don’t base Bible doctrine on one passage of scripture.
Rather look at all the verses and interpret them within the context of the whole.
Ephesians 6 helps fill out what ‘pray without ceasing’ means as well.

Ephesians 6:18 (ESV) — 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Thessalonians says to pray without ceasing.
Ephesians says to pray at all times.

Romans 12:12 (ESV) — 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

So pray without ceasing, pray at all times, and now pray constantly.
We’re not finished yet.

Luke 18:1 (ESV) — 1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Now you can see that we are arriving at a more complete picture of the frequency of the prayer life.
Pray without ceasing, pray at all times, pray constantly and, pray always.
Shall we go on?

Colossians 4:2 (ESV) — 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

So now, we add ‘continue steadfastly’ to the pile.
That brings the sum now to this: Pray without ceasing, pray at all times, pray constantly, pray always continuing steadfastly in it.
Now there’s no greater authority than Jesus on this subject of frequency.

Luke 6:12 (ESV) — 12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.

Jesus continued all night in prayer.
See that, someone may say, ‘We need to pray every moment of every hour.’
Jesus didn’t pray like this every night.
So, what is this unceasing kind of praying about?
What it isn’t is just praying about crisis-type stuff.
This kind of praying is where you are talking to Him all the time just like you do your best friend.
This type of prayer is where you are peppering God with questions you don’t have the answer to.
This type of prayer is where you are asking God where you left your keys or asking Him to remind you about something you have to do later in the day so you don’t overlook it.
This kind of prayer is where you are writing a letter to someone and you don’t quite know how to get your words together — so you ask Him to help you.
‘How do I say this Lord?’
This kind of prayer is where you come out of the grocery store and you forget where you parked your car and so you ask the Lord to help you find it.
This kind of prayer is living with God all throughout your day.
You’re praying short prayers.
You’re lifting your voice to God here and there because you know He hears you.
You’re doing this all the time.
You’re Fellowshipping the Father.
This kind of praying is in addition to the grace you pray over your meals.
It’s in addition to praying for the president or Prime Minister of your Prime Minister of your country or the pastor of your church.
The bottom line?
You’re just talking to God all the time.
It’s a wonderful life you have chosen.

The Will of God Is to Give Thanks in All Things

The last commandment in this group is to give thanks in all circumstances.
Notice what Paul said here.
Notice what he didn’t say here.
Paul by the Spirit of God said, give thanks IN all circumstances.
He didn’t say give thanks FOR all circumstances.
Some circumstances are really bad — so bad that their source is obvious.
At least it should be.
Someone gets murdered — we don’t give thanks for that.
You receive a really bad report on your health — well God didn’t do that — He is in the healing business not in the making sick business.
Little children are being sold off into sex trafficking and slavery.
We don’t thank God for that — we fight against that in Jesus’ Name.
But if we happen to be touched by some of this really bad stuff, in the midst of that, knowing that our Redeemer lives, knowing that He will rescue us — when we know that we can lift our hands and thank God.
This negative stuff doesn’t change us — it doesn’t define us.
We know who we are in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (ESV) – 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

So, in the midst of this light affliction, we give thanks unto God because that’s who we are — we are thankful.
It’s nothing for us to lift our holy hands high unto God.
Thank You, Jesus, glory be to God, Hallelujah, — those words are music to our ears.
How different this is than the down in the down-in-the-mouth, ‘woe is me’ piece that the world does.
And with that thought, here is the Historical Background of the Day.
This piece of Historical background comes out of the IVP Bible Background Commentary.
Here’s what it says.

Pagans recognized that Fate or some [little g ] god was sovereign over everything. They said that one should accept whatever comes or even give thanks for it. ⁶

People believe in F-A-T-E.
I believe in giving thanks.
Toward the end of his life, British novelist H. G. Wells was in despair about the fate of the human race. One evening at dinner, Wells laid out his picture of the future. Mankind had failed [in Wells’s opinion] because evolution had failed to produce in us the right kind of brain. Therefore, Wells claimed, we will destroy ourselves, die out as a species, and revert to the mud and slime from which we arose. “And we shall deserve our fate,” he said, adding that the human race had only “one thousand years more” to survive.⁷
People believe in F-A-T-E.
Jesus’ followers believe in F-A-I-T-H.

Hebrews 13:15 (ESV) — 15 Through him [through Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Do you hear the adverbs in this passage — they ring out — they speak into our hearts.
Continually, offer a sacrifice of praise unto God.
What does continually mean?
It describes an action done regularly as well as something that is ongoing without interruption.
Continually means always.
Try these words on for size.
Continually means constantly, perpetually, incessantly, ceaselessly, forever, always, endlessly, on and on, non-stop, regularly, frequently, repeatedly, persistently, habitually, all the time.
And.

Colossians 3:17 (ESV) — 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Switching over now to Ephesians five.

Ephesians 5:20 (ESV) — 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in all things give thanks.

Now, Father God you are so wonderful — so kind and merciful. You made provision to help us with the cares of life. We rejoice in you Hallelujah! We thank you today for being who are in the midst of us — and we do it in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

Why You Can Overcome Fear and Anxiety In a World Gone Crazy

__________
References:

The Speakers Quote Book ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1074. ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 312. ↩
William Franklin (Billy) Graham ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 660. ↩
IVPBBC NT 2ed. ↩
Today in the Word, November 1996, p. 24 ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Forty-One

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Doing God’s Will: A Power-Packed Pair of Triplets

The Will of God Is to Rejoice

The Will of God Is to Pray without Ceasing

The Will of God Is to Give Thanks in All Things

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Doing God’s Will: A Power-Packed Pair of Triplets

The Will of God Is to Rejoice

The Will of God Is to Pray without Ceasing

The Will of God Is to Give Thanks in All Things

Related posts: