“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances are imperatives that we should obey all the time. However, it is very difficult to fully obey them as we live in this fallen world. But we should seriously pursue to obey them for two reasons;

First, it is God’s will for us as He saved us through the cross of Christ Jesus.

Second, it is how we can maintain ourselves in the fullness of the Holy Spirit (19).

Let us seek to obey these imperatives of the Lord as we pray this prayer:

‘O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day’

(Prayer of Richard of Chichester, 1197–1253).