The Prayer Sandwich

By Dewey Compton
What if I told you there was a sandwich that is so delicious you can eat it
every day, and it never gets old, stale or moldy. In fact, it gets newer,
fresher and more tasty each day. I call it the prayer sandwich. What if it’s
God’s will for you to eat it? It comes from one of my favorite verses. I
have it on my wall in my living room and every morning, I stare at it. I
meditate on it. Then I read it and eat it. It is crazy how certain days it
tastes very different than other days. None the less, it’s always satisfy-
ing.
“Rejoice always, 
pray continually, 
give thanks in all circumstances; 
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Let's deconstruct this sandwich shall we? Rejoice always! To rejoice

means to show great joy or delight over something. One part of the defi-
nition says this: cause joy to. One morning, I was extra tired and dread-
ing a situation I knew I was going to go through later in the day. I was not
feeling the joy at all. When I saw my verse that morning, I said, “I am go-
ing to cause joy to that situation. I am going to cause it to happen.” We
can do that in our life. The Passion translation says, “Let joy be your
continual feast.” Wow, feast on this sandwich you guys. Are you hungry
yet? That second part says always. If we only rejoice when things are
going well, we miss out on an opportunity to change the atmosphere
around us. That’s the top bun.
Here is the meat: pray continually. I was taught early on as a young be-
liever we pray to God up in Heaven. Prayer should be a simple conver-
sation with God. It’s talking back and forth and listening. Jesus and the
Father have made their home in us through the power of Holy Spirit. So
prayer is not calling up into the skies toward a distant God in heaven. It’s
conversing with the present Presence living inside us. I think our prayers
can be so off the mark, God doesn’t want to answer them. For example,
I used to start off my prayers by inviting God to be present and be here
in the situation. Then one time it was like a whisper in my ear. “Psst, You
know I am always with you right.” That’s when I realized I had been pray-
ing like God was distant, far away or busy. 

Okay, so the bottom bun as you can see is giving thanks. One time I was
put on administrative leave at my job. I was at home staring at my verse
on the wall: “give thanks in all circumstances.” This thing I am going
through fits in the “all” category. How am I supposed to give thanks for
this? Even-though I didn’t want to, I did and I said, “It’s Your will Lord
that I give thanks. So here I am. I thank you for this circumstance. I trust
your word.” It turned out to be the best two weeks of my life spending
time with God.
Try it out. You will love it. The best part is you can eat it anytime day or
night or even a midnight snack.