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Like you, I love the Lord and strive to follow the instructions found in His Word. If the Lord says to do something, I know I should do it and I want to do it. So what in the world do I do with:
Pray without ceasing…for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Pray without ceasing? Really? How do I do that while also running a ministry, traveling, caring for family, buying groceries, washing clothes, and responding to email?
My friend, evangelist and teacher Aidan McKenzie of Reconciliation Ministries, recently wrote his take on this passage and allowed me to excerpt portions of it here:
Praying without ceasing does not mean heading for the hills and finding a cave to hide away in and attempting to pray 24 hours around the clock. Instead, look at it this way: At this time of year when flu and colds are common, they’re often accompanied by a hacking cough. The words “without ceasing” were recently used to describe a hacking cough–something that interrupts frequently. It does not mean they were coughing continuously, but that they were regularly being interrupted by the cough.
In its original sense, the words without ceasing mean regular interruptions.
So how does that work in regards our instructions to pray without ceasing? It means we become God-conscious and people-conscious and ask the LORD to remind us–to Interrupt our thinking–to see people or think of people and then turn those thoughts into prayers.
One thing I’ve tried to do over the years is when someone asks me to pray for them, I pray right then and there. I know I could easily forget, so I see their request as a Divine interruption to “pray without ceasing.”
Throughout the day there should be regular interruptions of speaking to God in prayer. It does not come by trying harder or making a new vow, but by asking God to remind us to interrupt our day with prayer…and He will be faithful, for this is His will for you and me!
Regular interruptions. A beautiful picture of praying without ceasing. I’ll never think of that verse in the same way again.
I pray God’s blessing on the work of your hands and your hearts,
Vonda
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