Scripture | “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophecies, but examine all things; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16–22

Observation | Today we take up our second of six imperatives in this text, “pray without ceasing,” which is followed up closely with “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (v.17).” Want to know what God’s will is? Start with rejoicing always, then praying without ceasing.

Let us first consider the extent of such a command to “pray without ceasing.” This extent of prayer may seem difficult to obey, especially for those who would rather occupy their mind with lesser things. As a result of this difficulty many have twisted the meaning of our imperative to make it fit their meager desires. I’ve heard such meanings given in the church, “This cannot mean pray without stopping, so it must mean pray more often.” Others have said “God doesn’t want us to kneel down with eyes closed for the rest of our life. So, this is saying we are to simply be more mindful of prayer.” Man’s reasoning sounds logical, but this is simply a way to ease the guilt of the lukewarm and lazy “christian” who will not dare imagine an attempt to obey the full command to “pray without ceasing.”

So, what does “without ceasing” mean? You may be surprised that the original word literally means “without ceasing,” or “without stopping,” or “continuously.” Sounds difficult? Well then be careful not to change God’s will for us, especially when it is so clear.

How then do we obey what seems impossible? Now that we clarified the full extent of “without ceasing,” we must turn to study what is meant by “pray.” It is here we can find a better understanding of our lack of understanding. The original Greek word for prayer is proseuchomai. It is defined by the Greek lexicons (like an English dictionaries) as, “to speak to or make requests of God.”

According to this definition prayer is basically “speaking to God.” To restrict the definition of prayer to bowing our head, or kneeling, or hands folded is to add our restrictions to God’s meaning in scripture. Yet, this is what we often do without thinking. In comparison to our restrictions of the word prayer, the descriptions in scripture never speaks of folding hands, kneeling, or bowing the head. Instead what they do describe prayer with is standing, raising hands and looking up to heaven (Lk 18:11-14; 1 Tim. 2:8). These biblical practices of prayer are much different ours.

Let’s further look at the practice of prayer in the Jesus’ day. For example, look at the Shema prayer in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The Jews then were instructed to pray this prayer in the morning and at night in their non-biblical writings of religious instruction. In fact, most if not all practicing Jews still pray the Shema prayer twice a day. This means Jesus himself would have prayed the Shema twice daily as well. Hence the quick affirmation of the Jews to the greatest commandment “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deut 6:5).” Here is another practice of prayer that has escaped much of our practice. Praying the scriptures back to God. Meditating on them as we listen to God speaking through them.

Notice our observations so far. Jesus and the Jews have a different practice of what prayer looks like then we do. Prayer for Jesus is a time to meditate on God’s Holy Word. Prayer in scripture was with raised hands and looking up to heaven. This all reveals that prayer is a much broader communion with God then what we may limit it to. Prayer is “speaking to God.” Or now as we’ve seen the practice of the Shema (and Jews who pray many other scriptures) we may say that prayer is at its basic core “communing with God.”

So, we may practice prayer with an ongoing internal conversation with God. We may pray by reading and repeating God’s Word to ourselves. Prayer maybe setting our mind on the things of God and the things of heaven. Prayer maybe an attentiveness to the fact that he is always with us and never leaves us (Hebrews 13:5). A.W. Tozer seems to have had our imperative to “pray without ceasing” in mind as he continually focused on what he repeatedly called “practicing the presence of God.” Practicing His presence is communing with God through a continuous focus and awareness of His presence. We must not limit prayer to our personal practice, though we do well to look to the authority and sufficiency of scriptures for a better practice.

Prayer is a communing with God. With this proper understanding “pray without ceasing” is more clear and more understandable. It is a divine command from the Living God who calls us not to forget He is real, He is with us, He is always listening to us and He is always ready to speak through His Word. Beware of twisting this imperative into something less than what it is. To obey is for our good and God’s glory. To disobey is sin. The seeming difficulty is not a question of the continuous understanding of the command, but of a right understanding of our practice of prayer. Prayer is more broad in HOW we commune with God, but commune with God we must.

Application | So how will you pray without ceasing? How will you remind yourself to continually be mindful of the Holy and Divine being that has taken up residence in you, if you truly have faith? How will you “practice the presence of God” today and moving forward? Today, find a way to remind yourself to set your mind and thoughts toward Him and for Him. Tie a string on your finger. Write “pray without ceasing” on your hand in pen. Tell a friend of your goal and request that they ask you throughout the day how it’s going. Let’s not let ourselves forget that God is with us, but instead remember and communicate with Him without ceasing.

Prayer | Father, I have neglected a continuous conscience of Your presence in my life. Thank you for not leaving me when I was forgetful that You were with me. Turn my heart, my soul and my strength to ways I can glorify You continually. Let my life be bent upon this one task, in thought, Word and deed. So that I will be obedient and pray without ceasing with joy in You. For your glory alone. Amen.

A hymn in reflection of communing with God.