Pray Without Ceasing

My, Devotion to Him #188

There is series of instructions that are simple and yet powerful in how to pray without ceasing. Let’s look at these instructions that we may become empowered to do battle in our prayer life. 

VERSE PASSAGE: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 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. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” – NIV

There are certainly many critical points included in this passage, but I would like to draw out one important statement and then take apart that phrase.

Paul says in verse 17 that we are to pray without ceasing. Those are just three simple words, and yet they carry a life-changing message if we actually were to apply them.

What does it mean to “pray without ceasing,” then? Well, it does not mean that we spend the entire day on our knees praying without engaging in any other activity. If we did that, we would not be able to keep a job or pay our bills or doing virtually anything. 

The directive to “pray without ceasing” means that we are ever present with God throughout the entire day. We are continually interacting with Him in prayer as we move from task to task, and even to event. When we face a challenge, we ask for His assistance. As we experience a blessing, we thank Him for His favor.

It’s sort of like being on the phone, and we never hang up. We acknowledge His presence throughout every single day.

But we’re busy, right? And it’s easy to get distracted. So, we often forget to include Him in our day, and we often fail to pray without ceasing.

Let’s look at several simple things we can do that will help us to pray without ceasing in our own life.

1. Walk With God

By “walk with God,” I mean that you should consider going on regular walks each week in which you pray while you are walking. Some people go for “prayer walks” around their neighborhood for the purpose of praying for their neighbors. I personally do so when at work. I walk around 25 buildings that are on my jobs property. I walk around them two or more times a night and instead of just staring around and have a blank thought in my mind I can spent that time to speak with God. 

2. Run with God

And if you are into fitness, you may even consider praying while you are running or working out. Focusing on your spiritual state while you are working on your physical growth is a beautiful blending of those two aspects of your wholeness. Some people listen to music while they work out. What if you used that time to listen to worship music and turned it into a worship/prayer encounter? This can be a great opportunity to grow spiritually as you develop physically.

3. Drive With God

Most of us spend several hours driving each week. We drive to work. We drive to the store. We drive to various events and on various tasks. Wouldn’t it be great if we turned those solo drive times into a prayer event? It’s a pretty simple decision to make, and you can commit those drive times to prayer any time you want.

In order to help you remember to use this time for prayer, you may want to put a sticky note on your dashboard for a while that says, “While driving, pray” or something like that. This will help you develop a new habit of praying while driving. And I think you’ll be amazed at how much less stress you experience when you get into heavy traffic. When you’re communing with God, that time will become precious for you.

4. Wait For God

How much time did you spend waiting this past week? or month? We all end up waiting every week on one thing or another, but we don’t always have a plan in place to use that time for something important. I would encourage you to be productive and set up a plan to be able to pray whenever you find yourself having to wait. Instead of constantly checking emails and checking on Facebook. 

Wait on traffic, doctors, clients, bosses, family members, etc. every week. So, why not plan ahead so that you can spend that time with God? You’ll find yourself no longer dreading those times of waiting.

5. Hide With God

One of the most powerful experiences that I’ve had is a Christian journey to take time to get away to places of solitude where you can spend a few hours at a time in prayer with the Creator. And making sure there’s nothing that can interfere with this time with God. In the age of technology and non-stop interruptions, the discipline of solitude is often sadly missing from our lives. So, plan to hide with God soon so that you can go deeper with Him in prayer.

God bless. 

Copyright © 2019 by Jacob D. Olinger