…pray without ceasing… (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NAS95)
Paul converses with God constantly. He records his prayers as he writes his letters to the emerging faith communities. He prayed as he traveled. He sought people who prayed to pray with them. He bursts out in prayer in the middle of his letters. He communed with God in prison. He also seemed to maintain a presence to God at all times. He lived in a different space. The space where God is. The unseen world mattered more. His life, on the pages of scripture, appears very present to God in all that he does. He’s called to faith through a conversation with Jesus. He’s set apart to his missionary journeys through a time of communion and worship. He requests prayer on his behalf. He speaks of being in Christ, or in the Spirit, so immersed in a world filled with God’s presence. What a heart perspective!
I think Paul not only meant, but lived, what he said when he encouraged his friends in Thessaloniki to pray without ceasing. I wonder if this little command really reflects the realm we need to pay the most attention to and the realm, the Kingdom, to which Paul did pay the most attention. I often get distracted by what I see. Paul gets involved with God through what he sees. The Kingdom of God filled the space all around Paul and he never departed from that space. He stayed present to that realm, just like Jesus, through prayer and communion with God. Maybe Paul saw God engaging him through all that happened in and around him? I wonder if that’s what he meant when he encouraged us to pray without ceasing?
For Reflection:
“I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Psalms 16:8 NAS95)
- How do you understand prayer without ceasing? What has God been saying to you about prayer recently?
- How interactive do you feel your conversations with God are at this time in your life? What are the ways God could be speaking to you but are difficult for you to notice?
