Pray without ceasing

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING ! !

Why? ~ How?

Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing,” can be confusing.

Obviously, it cannot mean we are to be in a head-bowed, eyes-closed posture all day long.

Paul is not referring to non-stop talking, but rather an attitude of consciousness and surrender that we carry with us all the time. Every waking moment is to be lived in an awareness that GOD is with us and that HE is actively involved and engaged in our thoughts and actions.

When our thoughts turn to worry, fear, discouragement, and anger,

we are to consciously and quickly turn every thought into prayer and every prayer into thanksgiving.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul commands us to stop being anxious and instead, “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). He taught the believers at Colossae to devote themselves “to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2).

Paul exhorted the Ephesian believers to see prayer as a weapon to use in fighting spiritual battles (Ephesians 6:18). As we go through the day, prayer should be our first response to every fearful situation, every anxious thought, and every undesired task that GOD commands. A lack of prayer will cause us to depend on ourselves instead of depending on GOD'S grace.

Unceasing prayer is, in essence, continual dependence upon and communion with the FATHER.

For Christians, prayer should be like breathing.

You do not have to think to breathe because the atmosphere exerts pressure on your lungs and essentially forces you to breathe. That is why it is more difficult to hold your breath than it is to breathe. Similarly, when we are born into the family of GOD, we enter into a spiritual atmosphere where GOD'S presence and grace exert pressure, or influence, on our lives.

Prayer is the normal response to that pressure. As believers, we have all entered the divine atmosphere to breathe the air of prayer.

Unfortunately, many believers hold their “spiritual breath” for long periods, thinking brief moments with GOD are sufficient to allow them to survive.

But such restricting of their spiritual intake is caused by sinful desires.

The fact is that every believer must be continually in the presence of GOD,

constantly breathing in HIS truths, to be fully functional.

Why is it easier for Christians to feel secure by presuming on—instead of depending on—God's grace?

Too many believers become satisfied with physical blessings and have little desire for spiritual ones.

When programs, methods, and (money) produce (seemingly) impressive results, there is an inclination to confuse human success with divine blessing. When that happens, passionate longing for GOD and yearning for HIS help will be missing. It diminishes.

Continual, persistent, incessant prayer is an essential part of Christian living and flows out of humility and dependence on GOD.

James 4:6 – But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Romans 5:1-2 – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Overcoming trials and tribulations...

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Matthew 6:1

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Mat 6:2

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:3

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

Mat 6:4

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Mat 6:5

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:6

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Mat 6:7

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Mat 6:8

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Mat 6:9

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11

Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Mat 6:14

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

Mat 6:15

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Mat 6:16

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:17

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

Mat 6:18

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Mat 6:19

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Mat 6:20

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Mat 6:21

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Mat 6:22

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Mat 6:23

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Mat 6:24

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Mat 6:25

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Mat 6:26

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Mat 6:27

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Mat 6:28

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

Mat 6:29

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Mat 6:30

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Mat 6:31

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Mat 6:32

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Mat 6:33

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Mat 6:34

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.