PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

Compiled & edited by Belinda Jo Adams

Several Years ago, I interviewed 23 people, asking them what "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) means to them. I came up with interesting responses. Since then, I have revised the article and had it edited. I have now decided to put it online with other items I have there, hoping it will bless hearts. BJA

1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."

What does this verse mean to you? About 30 years ago, I interviewed twenty-three people and compiled the following responses to this verse.

Pray without ceasing means to be always of a mind to pray whatever the situation and at any moment even if it is just a little request or praise. In all things we do, whether big or small, we should talk to God. It is a vigilant or constant attitude of prayer, ever mindful of God's presence in our lives. We need to stay in fellowship with the Lord so we will be prepared to pray. It is a relationship so close to God that He is the first one we turn to in praise, thankfulness, trouble, or forgiveness and to let our request be made known.

Pray without ceasing is talking to God constantly during the day just as if we could see Him in the room, car, or wherever. He is always there ready to listen. Everything is important to Him. Nothing is too small or too big to take to Him. If we only talk to Him about select things we are limiting His work in our lives.

It seems daily events happen that we do not understand. These problems tend to make us stressed. Instead of worrying about problems over and over in our minds, thinking of possible solutions, we can turn these thoughts into prayers to God who understands what we are feeling. When we become frustrated with people, we need to consciously draw upon God for strength and ask for His help immediately. There may not be time for pretty phrases - just instant communication - friend to friend.

Pray without ceasing is fellowship with the Father who is interested in and wants to be a part of every aspect of our lives. He wants us to consider His will in every decision we make and to know He is always available to give advice. Without God, we can do nothing. He wants to be an integral part of our lives from the time we wake up until the time we go to sleep and even be a part of our dreams at night. It is Him in our thoughts without effort when we wake up. Even when we do not feel like praying, we should pray knowing that He is with us.

It is simply being in God's presence moment by moment. If we continually have Him on our mind, thoughts of the world will not pull us down. We can stay lifted up in the glory of God, never giving Satan any place in our thoughts to stop us from praising our Creator and Savior.

Pray without ceasing is knowing we can pray any place. We are prone to think of prayer as the time that we are down on our knees in our place of prayer or at the altar in a church service. Obviously, the Lord did not intend for us to always be at those places of prayer, or to go about with our hands folded and our eyes closed. We can pray anywhere - anytime.

There should be special times of prayer, daily closet times, when we go into a private place alone with God. Starting a day with a planned time of prayer is good. However, several little one-line prayers all day long help us survive in our hurried world of today. Those unplanned times seem to make the biggest difference. If we do this God will ever be in our heart and in our mind, both physically and spiritually. We will be the happiest when we are including God in the little day to day things in our lives.

In our minds we can lift petitions to the Lord quietly, no matter our location or our limitations. If we are doing a project, whether at home or work, and someone comes to mind, we can pray for that person's need at that moment. If we hear on the news of someone else's troubles or see an emergency vehicle pass, we can pray that very moment for that person and the health-care workers. When we see a name on a street sign, word on a billboard, or an item (maybe a gift) that reminds us of someone, we can say that name to God in prayer. If we are truly praying like we ought, there will always be someone or something that needs prayer. It is like a never-ending circle. It's free, simple, and very rewarding.

There really is no reason not to be in a season of prayer twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week ... unless, we forget about God and have sin in our lives. To have a relationship with our Lord God, we must have our sins confessed and forgiven. Even those sins can be taken care of immediately. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). We do not have to go through a ritual or to a certain place to pray because God is ready to forgive the moment we ask.

Pray without ceasing is being silent before God, in His presence, and waiting for Him. "Be still, and know that I am God:…" (Psalms 46:10). We need to be a vessel that the Holy Spirit can pray through as we know not what to pray for and the Spirit prays for us. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). We always need to be in touch with God and never let our thoughts wander from Him. Even when our minds do wander during prayer, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us pray for the objects of those wandering thoughts!

To help us pray without ceasing we need to look at the verse preceding: I Thessalonians 5:17. It tells us to rejoice always. If we rejoice about all things that come into our lives, then we will be in the right attitude to pray and have our prayers answered. The next verse speaks about giving thanks in everything and the following verse says not to quench the Spirit. These four verses seem to be a guide to survival in the ungodly world in which we live. When we are in constant touch with God, our King, He enables us to be joyful. The way to keep that communication line open is to be thankful in all circumstances. Thankfulness and prayer are possible through Jesus our Savior.

God's ways and principles are in contrast with our human nature. When things go wrong our natural inclination is to find someone to blame or to say, "Why me?" God says that in those times that we need we are to give thanks and allow the fruit of the Spirit to be manifest in our lives. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance …" (Galatians 5:22-23).

In a similar way God says in these verses: "No matter what happens in your life, give thanks to Me and My Spirit will enable you to experience joy. The way to give Me thanks is to always be in touch with Me, not only when things go wrong, but at all times. This will enable Me to speak to you, encourage you, make you joyful through the relationship we have built up through that continuous prayer." Pray without ceasing is also never giving up on God answering a prayer request. He will answer! His answer may not always be our answer. Sometimes the answer is 'no' when we want it to be 'yes' but, His way is perfect. Pray without ceasing. Why? God hears without ceasing - God answers without ceasing - God cares without ceasing. ~ end ~

More recently, I have been studying more on the subject and I especially like what Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk has to say about it in a book containing encouragement by him. It is titled, Practicing the Presence of God. I downloaded it from the internet and have read through it and listened to it on the internet. He worked as a cook and lived his prayer life moment by moment, not only at the certain prayer times set aside by his church.

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[My thanks to Anton & Yannick; Tom & Dannette; Noel & Sharon; Kristie; Janice & JR; Tony; Keith & Marla; Martha; Rachael; Miguel & Lois; Jane; Kimberly; Laura & Christopher; Michelle; Millie; Linda; Pam; Patsy; Billie; Paul & Betty and Troy for their responses to my question that helped produce this article. I left off last names for their privacy.]

Bible verses from the KJV

Belinda Jo Adams Collected befoe 2000; written 2009 (revised & updated 2024)