Pray Without Ceasing


In the middle of the following passage is the call or command to "pray without ceasing".  We don't get to choose from this list those things we want to do.  Every word of scripture is to be obeyed.  One of those things we are to grow into is "unceasing prayer."  So how do we do that?


1 Thessalonians 5:14-22
(14)  We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  (15)  See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.  (16)  Rejoice always;  (17)  pray without ceasing;  (18)  in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  (19)  Do not quench the Spirit;  (20)  do not despise prophetic utterances.  (21)  But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;  (22)  abstain from every form of evil.

  1. Seek to live out all the other command surrounding this one and you will need to engage the Lord to cover your mistakes, empower your efforts and activate you motivations.
  2. Try to find the Lord's perspective regarding your attitude and not just decisions.  I suggest you pray more about the attitude of your heart than about the decisions you are trying to make.  You want a heart of forgiveness and not just acts of forgiveness.
  3. Remove yourself from the main stream of this world.  You don't remove yourself to stay away from the world  but remove yourself so that you can go back in with love, faith and hope.
  4. Monitor your selfishness.  Your "rights", your agenda and your wonderful insights will all need to be yielded to others as you surrender to God and authentically love others.  Most of us are derailed from the pathway of God by selfishness, not Satan.
  5. Be happy - joy filled.  Depression leads to prayerlessness so try and stay away from it.  The Psalms are full of laments so offering up a good lament is encouraged.  What I want to discourage is a lifestyle where  you feel like you need to feel bad, find something wrong or avoid any thoughts of hope or happiness

So now a "how to."  Write out a short prayer than you can carry around with you or send it to yourself on a text or email.    Use Scripture and craft this prayer about a paragraph long.  You want to be able to read this prayer in about 1 min.  If you don't have any issues that you feel led to pray about you can get a prayer from a prayer book, web site or from a prayer newsletter.  Now, whenever you can, take the prayer out and pray it.  Add new expressions if you desire.  Your desire is to increase in the discipline of prayer   You can work on other disciplines later.  Enjoy

Here is the link to the Voice of Martyr web site.  They give you a situation, scripture and an focus for prayer at times.  If you combine "encourage the fainthearted" with "pray without ceasing" this may be for you.


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