Continuous Prayer

1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 English Standard Version (ESV)

(Via http://www.biblegateway.com)

Final Instructions and Benediction

¹² We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, ¹³ and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,^[a] encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. ¹⁵ See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies, ²¹ but test everything; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.²³ Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Or disorderly, or undisciplined

The Apostle Paul, writing nearly two thousand years ago, left some final instructions to believers in Thessalonica. One of the instructions was to “pray without ceasing.” I have visited this phrase before, and I came back to it recently, because it still has much to teach us.

As with any verse or passage in the Bible, it helps to have context. To say “pray without ceasing,” without acknowledging the other instructions may leave a false impression. Paul is not saying that we should all stop living and working, eating or sleeping, and do nothing else but pray. But he means that we should pray consistently and frequently– prayer should be a natural part of our daily routine, and a natural reaction to events and circumstances as they occur. Prayer should not only be a personal practice, either. It should be part of “admonishing,” “encouraging,” and “helping” those around us. In fact, everything we do can be infused with prayer, and can actually be part of our ongoing prayer life. Also, prayer is part of being joyful always and giving thanks in all circumstances–“for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Not just joy or thanksgiving or prayer, but all of them together!

What struck me about this passage today was the idea that if we are practicing consistent prayer (and rejoicing and being thankful in prayer), and teaching and encouraging others to do the same, there will be prayer “without ceasing.” As the world spins, people all over the globe who are faithful will lift up prayers that never cease. My prayers rise with those of millions of others who pray at the same moment. But someone else just finished praying before I started; someone else will begin praying as I say my “Amen.” People with very different circumstances, praying in different languages, from different parts of the world– but we have so much in common! And each prayer–each pray-er–is like a note in a symphony rising to the throne of Grace.

Our prayers are so much more than we know. They have so much more value than we imagine. Not just because we say them; not just because of the thoughts and emotions that go into them. But because, when we lift them to the God of all Creation, He weaves them into what only He can.