"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Part 2
Yesterday: The first command – “Rejoice evermore.”
Today: Personal Command for Believers – Persistent Prayer
“Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, HSB[1]).
The second command is to –
“Pray without ceasing.”
Yes, believers need to pray! When we read the Word of God, He speaks to us. And our prayer is our opportunity to talk to Him. Here’s a practical question, how long should the believer go without talking to God in prayer? Paul’s inspired answer is that we ought to “pray without ceasing.”
“The Greek is, “Pray without intermission”; without allowing prayerless gaps to intervene between the times of prayer” [2] (JFB).
Paul was an excellent example of this, as we see in his letter to the Romans.
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” (Romans 1:9).
As Paul spent time in prayer, he consistently prayed for the Roman believers.
“Continual prayer is not prayer that prevails without any interruption, but prayer that continues whenever possible. The adverb for continually (adialeiptōs, also in 1:3) was used in Greek of a hacking cough. Paul was speaking of maintaining continuous fellowship with God as much as possible in the midst of daily living in which concentration is frequently broken” [3] (BKC).
“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father” (1 Thessalonians 1:3).
It’s not that Paul was thinking about the Thessalonians 24/7. Still, they were often and continuously[4] on his mind and in his prayers.
“To pray constantly does not mean continuous, uninterrupted prayer but humble submission to God in the details of life” [5] (CSB).
Here are some helpful words about praying without ceasing from Guzik (EWC).
“Christians are to pray continually. We can’t bow our heads, close our eyes, and fold our hands without ceasing, but those are customs of prayer, not prayer itself. Prayer is communication with God, and we can live each minute of the day in a constant, flowing conversation with God” (EWC).
This is a great way to think about our prayer. It should be ongoing constant, and flowing speaking with God throughout our day.
Here are some New Testament examples that should help to clarify our thinking on our unceasing prayer.
“And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint [get tired, lose hope, lose heart, give up]” (Luke 18:1).
“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).
“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant [constant] in prayer” (Romans 12:12).
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).
“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).
The old preacher Albert Barnes [6] offers a couple of thoughts about praying without ceasing. He shows us that believers need to remember to –
“… be regular and constant in the observance of the stated seasons of prayer.” By which he means that we maintain our private prayer – in the closet. And that we are consistently praying together with our family. And we pray together with our church in those “convened times of prayer.” “We are not to allow this duty to be interrupted or intermitted by any trifling cause.”
And secondly,
“We are to maintain an uninterrupted and constant spirit of prayer.” Live in such a way that we can pray anywhere and at any time. “There has been evil done to the soul if it is not prepared for communion with God at all times, and if it would not find pleasure in approaching His holy throne.”
Over the last two days, we have learned that we need to be rejoicing all the time and that prayer is our continuous, flowing, consistent conversation with God. It stands to reason that the more we speak with God, and He hears and answers our prayers, the more we will need to thank Him for what He is doing for us. Please come back tomorrow as we think about the third command, giving thanks to God “in everything.”
Quotes: “Four things let us ever keep in mind: God hears prayer, God heeds prayer, God answers prayer, and God delivers by prayer” [7] (E. M. Bounds).
“The main lesson about prayer is just this: Do it! Do it! Do it! You want to be taught to pray. My answer is pray and never faint, and then you shall never fail…” [8] (John Laidlaw).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[2] JFB, Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 392). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. The emphasis is his.
[3] BKC, Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Thessalonians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 708–709). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. The emphasis is theirs.
[4] “Continuously over a period of time; always.” Definition Downloaded: November 4, 2021. From: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=define+persistently&forcedict=persistently&dictcorpus=en-US&expnd=1.
[5] CSB, Davis, J. F. (2017). 1 Thessalonians. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 1908). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. The emphasis is theirs.
[6] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
[7] Bounds’ quote downloaded: November 4, 2021. From: https://www.turnbacktogod.com/christian-prayer-quotes-pray-without-ceasing/.
[8] Laidlaw’s quote downloaded: November 4, 2021. From: https://www.turnbacktogod.com/christian-prayer-quotes-pray-without-ceasing/.