Pray Without Ceasing

Pray Without Ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

“Why did Jesus, the Son of God, who needed to pray so little, pray so much—and why do we who need to pray so much, pray so little?”  James Allison asks this question.  What is our answer?  I think most of us would have to begin, “Guilty as charged.”

We know we should pray more.  No matter how much we pray it probably—except in a few cases—isn’t enough.  Allison is right:  we need to spend more time in prayer.

I suspect Jesus was praying even when it didn’t seem he was.  We know he went off by himself on occasion for the sole purpose of praying.  Somehow he managed to free himself from the crowds that followed him everywhere, give the disciples an assignment that kept them busy, and achieve some time off by himself to pray.

But there must have been times when he was engaged in prayer while doing something else—walking down the road from place to place, for instance, or sailing in a boat from one shore of the Galilee to another.  There were times when I was riding in the car with my father when I knew he was praying.  While his concentration was fully on the road in front of him, instead of his mind being occupied with idle thoughts, he was holding someone up in prayer.  I suspect Jesus was even better at that than my father.

What limits should we put on when, how often, and for how long we pray?  According to Paul—none.  He tells the church at Thessalonica “Pray without ceasing.”  Is such a thing even possible?  What could Paul have meant by this statement?

Paul is finishing up his first letter to the Thessalonians.  He does what many of us do (those of us who still write letters) when we get near the end.  Time is short.  We’re trying to finish up, but we have many things left to say, and we don’t want to leave anything out.  We might make the last paragraph say something like, “Say hello to Aunt Edna for me.  Don’t forget to let Bob know I’ll be coming in two weeks.  Tell Mom I love her.”  Paul gives seemingly unconnected reminders to his readers—unconnected except they all have to do with living the Christian life.  Right in the middle comes the sentence, “Pray without ceasing.”

Surely Paul doesn’t mean we should be praying every minute of every day—unless he means that our lives should be lived in an attitude of prayer, that we should be so close to God, so attuned to God’s presence that we can be in prayer at a moment’s notice, with no hesitation, as my father prayedwhile he was driving.

I believe this comes close to Paul’s meaning.  We are to be in a relationship with God that allows us instant contact through prayer.  I also believe that’s the way Jesus lived while he was on earth.

We should always remember what Charlie DeLeo says: “Prayers unsaid will always be prayers unanswered.”  Or, as Jesus says in Luke, if we don’t ask we won’t receive.  Not that our prayers should only be about asking—but part of our prayer life should be asking God for the things we need:  patience, greater love, compassion, contentment.  If our shopping list is made up of characteristics like these I’m sure God would be pleased to grant our requests. 

We ought also to ask for God’s blessing, comfort and care for our family members.  John Wilkins says, “We live in a time when more prayers are sent up for parking spaces than for the lost people in our own families.”  How concerned are we about the welfare of our families?  Our friends?  Our business acquaintances?  We know God loves them just as much as God loves us, and is waiting to bless them.  Wouldn’t it be good if we prayed for them without ceasing?