Pray Without Ceasing

I can't tell you how many times, as I grew up well before the Bluetooth Cellphone Age, that I saw someone on a corner somewhere talking to themselves. I could usually tell if they were homeless, poor, frustrated or just trying to talk something out.

Now, discerning if someone is actually speaking to another person with a Bluetooth earpiece in their ear or going through a challenging time without one is difficult. That imagery is one picture meant to portray the Christian's constant communication with The Lord.

Ever heard the term - motor mouth - used to describe someone? This is a person who put nicely is a constant communicator. Put another way - never stops speaking. Said one more way - will not shut-up and you wonder if they will ever take a breath to do anything else.

This kind of person is out of balance. Last time I checked, humans have two ears and one mouth, but this type of person tries to make-up for that fact with a river of words. Two-way listening and speaking is imperative in any healthy relationship and passion to communicate is a good thing, but not at the expense of a relationship being one-sided.

When reading verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that says, "pray continually," and Ephesians 6:18 that states, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." - the notion is easily taken by the reader to talk all the time to God or at least whenever you decide to meet.

But as I have mentioned before, if believers are doing all the talking, there is no time and no room for listening to God's instructions and encouragement. I feel confident that God loves us so much that He has listened to our dissertations, but He would much prefer a balanced conversation. The original Greek word for "continually" is adialeiptos (ad-ee-al-ipe-toce) meaning uninterrupted as the occasion allows.

When one takes into account the original language behind the key words of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, the verse reads -

Always have a cheerful, happy demanor, pray uninterruptedly as the occasion(s) allow and give thanks at the beginning, during and through all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

This instruction by Paul at the end of his letter to the believers in Thessolonica is a development of an eternal focus on Christ so that "our light and momentary troubles will achieve for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Cor. 4:17) 

For the best example at how the Christian's life should be an everlasting conversation with The Lord - observe Christ's prayer life. Do you want to know what Christ's daily schedule was? 

"Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives," (Luke 21:27). 

His nightly visits to the Mount of Olives, a mountainside or lakeside where it was just Him and Father God are excellent examples of the persistence in meeting with God. For out of those meetings between Father God and Christ, Jesus received direction, taught with God's authority and performed miracles.

His teaching astonished the people (Matthew 22:33). His teaching amazed the people so much because He taught with authority (Mark 1:22). His teaching was "hard" at times and difficult to "accept". After Christ spoke about Himself as The Bread of Life, "many of His disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'" (John 6:60)

However, from all the astonishment, from all the amazement, from all the difficulty the Disciples encountered with the teachings of Jesus - there was one thing they asked to be taught. Daniel Kolenda says it like this -

"They never asked, 'Teach us how to do miracles, or to be dynamic communicators, or to be highly effective and successful. The one thing about His life that was so compelling and appealing that they wanted to imitate was His prayer life." (Unlocking the Miraculous Through Faith and Prayer)

This is the thrust of the charge to pray without ceasing. God is a person. Obviously, He is a very special person in that He is with the believer at all times. Because of this, look at prayer without ceasing and praying in the Spirit on all occasions as simply opening a forever line of communication with The Lord.

This direct hotline or prayer-line is the kind of communicative relationship God paid for with His Son's life. This is a relationship of such tight-nit communication that distractions, issues and temptations are minimized in their impact on the believer. The practice is a daily honor that will be challenged, but the benefits are divine if the Christian will simply Pray Without Ceasing.