Pray without ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing.

Is there ever a more straightforward, clear, unequivocal, and simple verse anywhere else in the Bible? And is there also any verse anywhere else in the Bible that has been more openly and unabashedly disobeyed? For you see! We do pray, but with ceasing. Often, Christians will pray and pray, and then when things start to get better, they cease praying. They may ask for something over and over again, but when they think the Lord must have gone deaf and does not hear anymore, they cease from their prayers. Most of our prayers are intermittent, sporadic, inconsistent. But yet, no command could be more absolute, and no injunction could be more direct. There have been few questions ever raised about the meaning of this verse except what it means to prayer “without ceasing.” And all that means is that no external force, doubt, uncertainty, or influence should cause the cessation of our prayers! We should pray on! And on! And on! Without stopping! Does this mean we should pray without any intermission. No, but we should pray consistently, continually, and persistently. We should continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.

So why is it that so much difficulty seems to attend our adherence to this verse? Could it be that prayer is harder work than any other labor? Could it be that in an immediate culture, our prayers are not getting answered quickly enough. We want it to be answered now! Immediately! We hate patience! We would rather not bother praying, when we don’t know how or if or when God will answer. But you see, this is all the wrong attitude. Jesus said, “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?” But then He also said immediately following, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Shall He find faith? Are we persuaded that what He has promised, He is able also to perform? Has our faith wavered and faltered and vacillated? He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. We should not then expect to receive anything if it is not asked in faith! We must believe that God which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Dearly beloved, have you ceased your prayers? Start them up again! Get back to communion with God! Ignite again the engine of prayer! Without that engine, you will most definitely stall. You must resurrect the dead prayer life, and the benefits shall be numerous and plenteous. Pray all day, throughout the day, into the night. It is a privilege to talk to God! It is a privilege to come boldly unto the throne of grace and find grace to help in time of need. Why would we not do this continuously? Don’t stop praying! Pray more! Pray more faithfully! May the Lord find faith in you when He returns. If you cease your prayers, it will be exceeding much harder to get them going again. Make it a habit, infused into the very fiber of your life. Indeed, may it be a prayer life! Let us pray without ceasing.

“Dear Father, we come to You now with the desire to increase and strengthen our prayer life. We know it only comes from practice, from doing, from obeying. We obey now this great commandment, but do ask that we would be reminded of it each day. We praise You for being a dear Friend to whom we may continually resort, and come back to repeatedly, knowing that we shall never be denied entrance into Your presence. If we have ceased from our prayers, please forgive us, and help us to begin them today. And may we never cease again. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.”