Many people wonder what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when he wrote about praying without ceasing.
But when we come to recognize prayer as a running conversation with God, it helps make sense of what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when he instructed his readers to “pray without ceasing.”
If prayer is a set time and place where we go into a particular room, get down on our knees, fold our hands, bow our heads, close our eyes, and say certain things to God, it is nearly impossible to follow Paul’s instruction. How could one possibly do this nonstop?
Formal Prayer Without Ceasing is Impossible
And yet some Christians try.
You will often find illustrations in sermons and books on prayer about how prayer is a spiritual discipline, and while the new believer may only pray for five minutes a day, the longer one is a Christian, the more time they should spend in prayer, so that the truly spiritual prayer warrior will pray for several hours a day.
Martin Luther once said that he tried to spend two hours every day in prayer, but if he was really busy, he would spend three.
This sort of mentality was found in the Desert Fathers who went out into the wilderness so they could devote more time to prayer. Today, people go on “prayer retreats” so they can spend the majority of that time in prayer.
Yet in all of these cases, nobody claims to be praying without ceasing. They must sleep. They must eat. They must run errands, and talk to other people.
As long as one has a formalized definition of prayer that requires a certain posture and a certain way of speaking, then praying without ceasing is impossible.
Do not misunderstand.
I am not against formalized times, places, and postures of prayer. I think Jesus might have had all of these. We do read that He often got up very early in the morning, and went out to a solitary place to pray (Mark 1:35).
But it would be wrong to think that these were the only times Jesus prayed. Jesus understood what it meant to pray without ceasing, and these early mornings of prayer were a small part of His overall prayer life.
Conversational Prayer without Ceasing is Achievable and Enjoyable
Praying without ceasing requires us to think about prayer as we have seen in the recorded prayers of Jesus, Paul, and the Psalms.
If prayer is an ongoing conversation we are having with God, and if God is with us always, then we can always be in conversation with Him.
Sure, you will not always be talking to each other, but as in any relationship, silence is part of a conversation too. Sometimes there is a lot to say, and sometimes it is enough to just be in each other’s presence. Frequently, it is nice to sit down for a long talk, and other times, you can casually discuss issues as you run errands, take a walk, eat meals, or watch television.
When we view prayer as a conversation with a God who is always present, it opens up a whole new realm of freedom in prayer.
You no longer have to feel guilty about not spending enough time in prayer; you can always tell someone you pray nonstop during your waking hours. You no longer have to begin and end each prayer with certain words, because in an ongoing conversation, there is no beginning and end. You no longer have to remember to pray about something.
If you learn of a need, just start talking about it with God right then and there. If you find yourself in a bad situation, you no longer have to think, “I should have prayed for protection this morning.” If you find yourself in a predicament, don’t beat yourself over the head with guilt. That’s just makes things worse. Instead, pray for protection. A word or two will do: “God! Help!”
In these ways and so many others, your prayer life can be transformed from a tired and boring religious duty that you try to fit in to your busy day, into a vibrant and inspiring ongoing conversation with a living and powerful God who is always by your side.
You say “Good morning” when you wake up, and “Good night” when you go to bed. You thank him for the taste of your coffee, and praise Him for the beauty of the frost on the grass. You discuss with him the problems you are facing with your daughter, and your worry about the meeting with your boss at work.
And when you sin (as you will every day), you don’t need to fear that God was scared off. No, He’s seen and heard it all before. So you laugh with God about your weakness and thank Him for the forgiveness He has already offered by His grace through Jesus Christ. And then you continue with your day.
This is how we pray without ceasing. It is an ongoing conversation with God. Incidentally, this is also how we learn to pray according to the will of God.
If you want to learn more about this sort of prayer, I highly recommend The Practice of the Presence of God
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Jeremy, this is right on with what I have learned. I love this…
“Frequently, it is nice to sit down for a long talk, and other times, you can casually discuss issues as you run errands, take a walk, eat meals, or watch television.”
and this…
“You no longer have to begin and end each prayer with certain words, because in an ongoing conversation, there is no beginning and end. You no longer have to remember to pray about something. If you learn of a need, just start talking about it with God right then and there.”
This is so much more real – it brings the Father from a distant, almost mythical/magical being out there to an ever-present Papa who is as close as the next breath we take….from solely make formalized petitions that almost feel like letters to Santa, to talking things over with family ask seeking advice and assistance from them.
To quote a comment you left on my blog a few weeks ago… “You GET it!” 🙂
Katherine,
Have you ever heard or read anyone teach about this kind of prayer? Maybe it it the circles I grew up in, or the churches I attended, but it seems this type of prayer is so rare, and I don’t remember reading or hearing about it anywhere – except as it relates to Brother Lawrence’s book.
How did you come to this way of praying?
😉 I’ve never heard it taught from a pulpit or in a ‘church’ setting. And I honestly only personally know 3 people who pray this way (myself included). For me, it was a natural development as I sought a deeper understanding of God and pursued a relationship with him…
Actually, I probably picked bits and pieces of ideas in this up along the way in reading and even from the days I used to watch Christian TV (yikes!). I think Jesse Duplantis talked about praying this way. But I didn’t start praying this way until well after I left the TV preachers behind…in those waning days before I walked away from the ‘church-as-I-knew-it’….
BTW, while reading this post, I was also reminded of Jesus’ prayer in John 11:41-42…
“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.””
He did not bow his head and he talked to the Father without formal intro as though he were continuing a conversation they had already started…
Great catch here from John 11. Jesus just spoke aloud a part of a conversation that was already in progress.
I was just prompted to respond to the Thanksgiving message. I mentioned there about someone in my Bible Study group who sees giving primarily as something we do to Kith and Kin first and any crumbs we may have left, throw them to the dogs, so that they may fight over them. He did not say the last bit, but his attitude did.
The same person also ridicules the idea of praying constantly and says he only prays when he deems it necessary. Many see the pleadings of the people in the Bible to God as being weak and womens stuff. We men are doers not prayers. They obviously haven’t read the Bible as most of the prayers were men.
To me when Paul said pray constantly I think he was saying be constant in your relationship with God, some of that will be on our knees or in our closet, but most of the time it is in our every day walk. He talks to me at various points in the day as He reminds me or draws me to attention and shows me things and people I need to pray for, as well as giving thanks. To me prayer is simply communication with Big Daddy and his Son and The Holy Spirit.
Very few things in our lives are constant, health, age-ing, circumstances, emotions, but the one constant is God who never changes, totally reliable and always available.
I love Him for all of that and I thank Him for all those He has inspired to write down His words and even now those who explain His Word. Even this Blog has helped me to re-asses all things, through the challenges they have brought.
Yes, when I rise I say Hi Dad when I go to bed I say Thank you Dad. 30 years ago I was nothing without him (unbeknown to me He was protecting me until the time was right to reveal Himself) now I have everything, a hope and a destination.
Love you Dad X Clive
Clive,
Great account of how conversational prayer looks and works.
Sometime this coming week I will address the fact that we men are doers. I will be saying two things: that prayer is “doing” and that we can be answers to our own prayers by “doing.”
I’m looking forward to what you think about these ideas.
looking forward to reading that, Jeremy.
I suppose I worked some of this out for myself after meditating on Paul’s ‘pray without ceasing’. Also after reading Brother Lawrence.
Reminds of when I wrote ‘God is only a prayer’s breadth away’ – actually He’s closer than that – isn’t it just wonderful, He’s always there/here never tired, never sleeping and always willing to listen – and speak. We shouldn’t forget that prayer is two-way – we need to stop and listen.
Sandra,
Actually, the posts are already written:
Walking with our Great Holy Kind Loving God every step of the day oh it’s a good life ,and realizing He is Always with and in us , it only gets better and better .