1 Thessalonians 5:17
Prayer is the power generator of believers. When we pray, we make God’s power available in our lives and the world as a whole (James 5:16).
Without prayer, we will be helpless before the enemy. When we pray, we can wield our spiritual weapons to wage war against the activities of the devil in the world today. Prayer brings down God’s kingdom to reign in the earth (Matthew 6:10).
We show God that we depend on him and that we are submitted to his Lordship over our lives through prayer. On the other hand, the display of pride and arrogance is at its highest when we don’t pray. Prayer is an important sign of humility. It takes humility for us to admit that we are not in control and invite God to intervene.
When we pray, we can speak to God and also receive direction from him (Acts 13:2). Prayer is an important tool of fellowship with God as his children. One of the most important motivations for prayer should be fellowship with God.
God desires us to fellowship with him and love him above all things. We can’t possibly love a person without being in constant communication with that person. Similarly, we cannot claim to love God without being in constant communication with him.
This is why the Bible enjoins us to pray without ceasing in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and other portions of Scripture. The Bible did not only tell us about prayer, the Bible also recommends the duration and intensity with which we should pray.
Therefore, we must not only pray, we must pray without ceasing. We must pray continually and consistently.
How Do I Pray Without Ceasing?
Many believers get confused when they read 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Bible. People have asked, “How does God expect me to pray without ceasing when I have a family to cater for, children to provide for and bills to pay?”
To understand what the Bible means by “praying without ceasing”, we must first understand that prayer is first a heart posture before it becomes a physical action. The state of your heart is more important than any external display you can put up in prayer.
When the Bible asks us to pray without ceasing, it does not mean that we must pray throughout our lives without doing any other thing. Rather, it means that we must do everything with a heart posture of prayer. As mentioned earlier, prayer represents a heart posture of surrender, dependence and fellowship with God. Much more than the external posture of prayer, God wants us to fellowship with him all day long. God desires to be involved in every step of our lives.
He wants us to keep a consciousness of him all through a busy day. God does not want us to bring a day to him in prayer alone, he wants us to bring him into the day as we go about our activities.
To pray without ceasing, we must pray consistently. In addition, we must maintain and confess our dependence on God even as we face different things in our typical daily schedule.
King James Version (KJV)
“Pray without ceasing.”
New International Version (NIV)
“pray continually”
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
“pray without ceasing”
New American Bible (NASB)
“pray without ceasing”
English Standard Version (ESV)
“pray without ceasing”
The Living Bible (TLB)
“Always keep on praying.”
