There is a phrase that commonly pops up whenever prayer is mentioned. It is verse 17 from 1 Thessalonians 5 that simply states, “pray without ceasing”.
It is an intimidating verse to read oftentimes I think because of the way we understand that phrase. When we read it, we tend to immediately punish ourselves with guilt. Because we know we aren’t spending our whole day on our knees with our hands clasped together praying. However, that is not the point of this verse. Hebrews 9 talks about Christ has cleansed the guilty conscience. God is not in the guilt tripping business.
So what is the phrase, “pray[ing] without ceasing” really about? For starters, it is the final word of exhortation or encouragement from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.
To get a better picture, lets look at the verses that bookend verse 17:
“16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
If we examine the other exhortations that Paul makes in this section, it’s clear that he is using emphatic terminology to encourage. He wrote, “Rejoice always”. But if we take that literally, does that mean we are not allowed to mourn? It says to, “give thanks in all circumstances”, but are we to interpret that as thanking God for the death of a loved one?
And think, if Paul were really putting pressure on us to be actively talking to God all day long every day, when would we have time for other acts of grace or service? I don’t think that Paul meant for prayer to be a replacement for action or an excuse for inaction. He would have been a hypocrite by his own account.
Therefore, I think it’s safe to interpret this phrase as describing a state of mindfulness. That our attitude and disposition should be prayerful, that is, communicative with our heavenly Father. I once heard a story (one I doubt that is true) of a youth wanting to know how his pastor prayed. As the story goes, the young man hid under his pastor’s bed at night to hear his prayers. The pastor, though, proceeded to climb in bed and simply said, “Goodnight God” and turned off the light.
Whether that story is true or not, it communicates an important point. Communicating with God is something that we should be doing throughout our day, not just at very specific times in only one form. To pray without ceasing is to be attuned to the voice of God at all times, and to allow His wisdom to inform everything we do.
And that is exactly where we tend to go wrong. The mistake we often make is to think of prayer as only when we are talking, instead of prayer being the way that God speaks to us as well.
The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, once penned the following reflection:
“A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized prayer is listening.”
So in short, praying without ceasing isn’t a guilt-trip. It also wasn't written to discourage you from getting on your knees and talking to God. That is an important part of prayer that is woefully undervalued.
It is meant to be an exhortation to extend an invitation to God each and every day into your actions and thoughts so that you may experience transformation by engaging and responding to His Holy Word.
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