"Pray without ceasing"
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV)
Prayer is a topic that is often misunderstood. Some people think prayer is some mystical experience that can only be done by super spiritual people. Others think that prayer is going to God and begging and pleading with Him to convince Him to do something. Still other people think that prayer is nothing more than a desperate, last resort that is only used in great times of crisis. But, none of these views are based on what the Bible says about prayer. Prayer is simply communication with God and it can be done by anyone, anytime, anywhere.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul encouraged believers to pray without ceasing. Did Paul mean that all Christians should be talking to God nonstop? This is obviously not correct. So what did Paul mean when he talked about praying without ceasing? What else does the Bible say about this? In Luke 18:1 Jesus talked about people always praying and not giving up or fainting. In Romans 12:12 Paul told the believers to continue to persevere in prayer. All three of these verses show us that prayer is something we need to do on a regular, persistent basis and we need to be ready to pray at all times.
Prayer should not be a difficult and strenuous activity that wears us down. Prayer is communicating with God and it should be done on a regular basis and not just in an emergency. Our foundation for prayer is what God has already said in His Word and as we pray we take our place as a child of our loving Heavenly Father to fellowship with Him and do business with Him, to bring our requests to Him and to receive His wisdom. We all need to have a lifestyle of prayer where we bring our problems to God but where we also come to worship God and to spend time with Him and to allow Him to speak to us.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV)
Prayer is a topic that is often misunderstood. Some people think prayer is some mystical experience that can only be done by super spiritual people. Others think that prayer is going to God and begging and pleading with Him to convince Him to do something. Still other people think that prayer is nothing more than a desperate, last resort that is only used in great times of crisis. But, none of these views are based on what the Bible says about prayer. Prayer is simply communication with God and it can be done by anyone, anytime, anywhere.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul encouraged believers to pray without ceasing. Did Paul mean that all Christians should be talking to God nonstop? This is obviously not correct. So what did Paul mean when he talked about praying without ceasing? What else does the Bible say about this? In Luke 18:1 Jesus talked about people always praying and not giving up or fainting. In Romans 12:12 Paul told the believers to continue to persevere in prayer. All three of these verses show us that prayer is something we need to do on a regular, persistent basis and we need to be ready to pray at all times.
Prayer should not be a difficult and strenuous activity that wears us down. Prayer is communicating with God and it should be done on a regular basis and not just in an emergency. Our foundation for prayer is what God has already said in His Word and as we pray we take our place as a child of our loving Heavenly Father to fellowship with Him and do business with Him, to bring our requests to Him and to receive His wisdom. We all need to have a lifestyle of prayer where we bring our problems to God but where we also come to worship God and to spend time with Him and to allow Him to speak to us.
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