Pray without ceasing

Dear Friends,

Pray without Ceasing, I Thessalonians 5: 17, What did Paul mean by this?
A literal translation of this verse is , “Pray without interruption”. Did Paul really mean that we should give up all other activity and only give ourselves to prayer? To pray without ceasing is to pray whether we feel like it or NOT. The Apostle paul didn’t feel like praying when he was shipwrecked 3 times or when he was beaten with a rod or stoned. (II Cor 11:25). Too often we cease to pray when we fail to see the answers we want.

I personally feel that there are 2 things hidden in this verse, “pray without ceasing”. First, it is a privilege for every child of God to communicate with our creator. We worship and pray to a living Lord Jesus Christ who has resurrected from dead. Our Omnipresence God, King of kings, Eternal God, the Amen is prayer hearing and prayer answering God.
The dead of night is not too late for our God.
The breaking of the morning is not too early for the Most High
At midday, He is not too busy and
When evening gathers He is not too weary with His children’s prayer.

So pray without ceasing. Why should we pray? It is of divine authority, because our God always deserves to be worshipped, prayer is a method of worship. Let us send out at the dove of prayer, surely she will return to us with an Olive branch of peace in her mouth. So it is a privilege of every child of God to pray continually.


Secondly, it means, our prayer must be persistent. As we breathe without ceasing, so must we pray without ceasing? Never abandon prayer or never cease to pray. It is not that we must pray until we are saved and then may leave off. NO, continue in prayer until the last moment of our prayer. Being a watchful Christian, lets have our times of daily devotion fixed not by superstition but for our convenience and remembrance.

David prayed 3 times a day, so pray without ceasing. In luke 18, we see a story of the persistent widow. Persistent prayer brings victory; it is not to convince God to act but to keep active the lines of communication so that we know when He is prompting us into action. We have heard Elijah telling his servant to look 6 times, he says, go again seven times. When Peter was in prison, the church had prayed God to liberate him. Let us pray on, so that Peter will knock at our gate to bring the answers for our prayers in the coming days.

Before I conclude, I would like share my personal opinion about this verse. I go to the throne of grace to worship God and seek His blessings. I don’t go away till I have done this. So please don’t rise from your knees, till you find the blessings. Lets pray, weep, entreat, wrestle, agonize till you get that which you are praying for. Lets us avoid lethargy and indifference in prayer.

In Psalm 65:2, we see that, “You who hear prayer, To you all men will come” May the God of Amen help us go to HIS throne with prayer continually. Amen and Amen