1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing
Ephesians 6: 18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Paul writes to the early church and exhorts them to pray without ceasing.
He tells the Ephesians Church to pray always.
What does it mean to pray without ceasing? What does it mean to pray always?
We all know that the word CEASE means “TO STOP”.
Yet Paul tells the Church to pray without ceasing. There has to be a good reason for this statement, because to pray without ceasing simply put, means to pray without stopping.
Jesus encourages His disciples in Luke 18:1
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
Praying always is a habit all believers should cultivate. Prayer should not be limited to church services or when we are in trouble.
Prayer should be a lifestyle for every Christian.
On a daily basis whether we realise it or not, we are in constant battle, battle to walk in faith, battle for our marriage, battle for our children, battles after battles. The only way we can stay victorious is to pray without ceasing.
I see prayer very much as a battle, we wear our armour for defence, the word of God is used as our weapon (SWORD OF THE SPIRIT).
Every day of your walk with the Lord is a battle.
The enemy does not mind you reading your bible, there is nothing wrong with that, the devil wants us to do everything else except pray.
It is in the place of prayer that you get to use your weapon and your armour. Paul tells us in scripture that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood”, He also tells us in the book of 2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
Then he tells us to take the sword of the spirit which he refers to as the WORD OF GOD.
In the book of Hebrews 4:12 we are told that the word of God is sharper than a double-edged sword. This already shows you that for us to be effective in our prayer/battle we need the word of God to go into battle.
Praying always helps us to be in constant intimacy with the father. It guarantees our victory. The place of prayer reveals God’s heart for a situation.
You see the highest form of prayer is communing with God as a friend, and a father.
It is in the place of prayer that strength arises in us to accomplish God’s call for our life.
It is in the place of prayer that we win our communities.
A victorious Christian has learnt to pray without ceasing.
This is a story I read a few years ago that really blessed me, I thought to share this with you.
A group of ministers were arguing about praying without ceasing and most agreed that it was not possible.
The entire discussion was overheard by a young woman who had been serving the tea. She said, "What? A whole month to tell the meaning of that text? Why it is one of easiest and best texts in the Bible!"
"Well, well, Mary", said an old minister, "what can you say about it? Let us know how you understand it. Can you pray all the time without ceasing?"
"Oh yes, sir!"
"What?" the old minister coughed back, "when you have so many things to do?" "Why, sir, the more I have to do, the more I can pray!"
"Indeed", he replied,
"Well Mary, let us know how it is. Most of us think the answer is otherwise."
"Well, sir", she said, "when I first open my eyes in the morning, I pray 'Lord, open the eyes of my understanding'; and while I am dressing, I pray that I may be clothed with the robes of righteousness; when I wash, I ask for the washing of regeneration; as I work, I pray that I may have the strength equal to my day; as I sweep out the house, I pray that my heart may be cleansed from all impurities; while preparing and eating of breakfast, I pray to be fed with the hidden manna and the sincere milk of the Word; as I am busy with the little children, I ask God to make me become as a child; and so on, all day.
Everything I do furnishes me with a thought for prayer."
"Enough, enough", cried the old minister, "These things are revealed to babes
and his from the wise and prudent. Go on, Mary, pray without ceasing. May we all do the same!"
In conclusion we must learn to pray always, with scriptures. The word of God is your weapon of warfare it is sharper than a double-edged sword, it pulls down stronghold. If you want to live a victorious life, pray always with scriptures.
