Paul wrote that as Christians, we should Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). During my early Christian walk, I didn’t understand nor did I appreciate the beauty of this verse. Solomon wrote A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24) and the apostle James wrote, And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God (James 2:23). Both Abraham and David shared a close relationship with the Lord; both men were willing to talk with the Lord as if He was a friend sitting in the room which is exactly the type of relationship that our Lord Jesus Christ desires to have with us. Pray without ceasing is the Holy Spirit’s way of saying that God wants us to feel we can come to him in prayer regardless of our place, the time of day, or any other factor we can think of. We can also feel complete peace to approach God through prayer with anything we have on our hearts.
We must be willing to bear witness to others
For many Christians, this is possibly the hardest of the four basic things that all Christians are to do. It’s not easy going up to someone, whether a lifelong friend, family member, or stranger and tell them that without Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, they do not have any real hope for Heaven. We’ve been conditioned to believe that religion is a private matter and that all faiths are equal. There is no greater lie than this because Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). It is because of this simple fact that during His earthly ministry, this was recorded in the gospels: Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:14-15).
We have a very real commission from the Lord to tell others about His saving grace. It’s not just the job of the pastor, the calling of the missionary, or the heart’s desire of the evangelist. This is a commission that was given to all Christians by the Lord Himself. It doesn’t take a theology degree for each of us to tell someone else about what the Lord has done for us. This was the idea behind what the apostle Peter wrote, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15).
We must be willing to worship God alone
When we make the decision to become a Christian we are surrendering our life to the Lord. One of be best analogies ever used is the marriage relationship. When we get married, we are making a covenant to forsake all others for the sake of our spouse. A man who will continue to have intimate relationships with other women after he is married is not being true to his bride – the woman that he claimed to hold in higher esteem than all other women. As Christians, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are claiming to Him and the world that he alone will we worship and serve. For this very reason, the same commandment that God gave the Hebrews as they were led out of Egypt, He gives to Christians as well: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). During His earthly ministry there were those who would ask Jesus which of the commandments was the most important and even then He clarified for al who will listen: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment (Mark 12:30). God understands that when our loyalties are divided we will face a real spiritual battle; for this reason, even Jesus warns all who would heed His teachings, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).
Our faithfulness in these four fundamental areas…
Although these seem pretty common sense, I will admit I didn’t know about their importance until 2006. While before that time I may have done them, I never did them consistently. There were times when I would read my Bible daily, but never prayed. Then there were times I prayed but I didn’t share the gospel with anyone else. Then there were days where I put other things in front of my love of the Lord. If you’ve reached the point where your relationship with the Lord has grown stale, there’s no spiritual growth, and your faith has grown hollow, then maybe you have reached the point I came to in 2006. Forget the fancy self-help Bible study guides and those other publications that promise to bring spiritual revival within you – I think I spent around three hundred dollars on those kinds of aids. They didn’t do anything to strengthen my relationship with the Lord. What did strengthen my relationship, healed my spiritual wounds, and gave me the peace I sought was just getting back to the basics – daily reading and studying of my Bible, genuinely praying to the Lord and being honest with Him about what was in my heart and on my mind. I also decided that it was time that I place Him as the center of my life and not as an appendage or something that I did only during times of crisis. And once I had done those three for a while, it became easier to tell others how not only had the Lord saved me from my sins, but how He liberated me and set me free!
Once we are regularly and without any reservation faithful in these areas, the Lord will bless us just as He taught in His parable of the three servants with the talents. Just as the two who took the talents that were given and grew them were given even more responsibilities in His kingdom, when we do these basic things that Jesus wants us to do, He rewards us accordingly. Want a bigger role in your local church? Become faithful in the basic things that Jesus sets in front of you. Want to hear Jesus say Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:23b)? The only way any Christian will hear that phrase is to be faithful and consistent in the little things first.
