"pray without ceasing;" 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Without Ceasing - Strong's G89 - adialeiptōs adverb, without intermission, incessantly, assiduously:
This word is used four times throughout the Bible, three of which are all in first Thessalonians. all of the verses refer to prayer. This verse is three words, eighteen letters but very tall orders. Pray without ceasing. Breathing. Heartbeat and blood flow. These are the only things in life I know happen without ceasing.
"For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.". Romans 1:9-10
"We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,". 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
"For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.". 1 Thessalonians 2:13
I don't believe that Paul is setting us up to fail, but was reminding us that we have constant access to our Heavenly Father. There is nothing that we can't thank Him for. There is no one that we can't bring to Him in prayer. There is nothing that we cannot ask Him for. He is always available to us. We can just talk to Him just like we would any other person.
We can't expect that our prayers will be 24 hours a day seven days a week. There's a quote I believe by Smith Wigglesworth that has always spoke to me when it comes to praying without ceasing. The quote said "I never pray longer than fifteen minutes, but I never go more than fifteen minutes without praying." We really do have access to God and He wants us to come to Him, without ceasing, just as a parent wants a child to come and talk to them, to tell them about their day, to ask for the things they need (although if you have a talker, you might let them know God wants to talk to them so you can have a break from time to time.)
Heavenly Father I know I go through times where I talk to You more frequently than other times. I really do want to pray without ceasing. I want to have a conversation with You that is ongoing. I want to be able to listen as much as I talk. I want that intimate contact with You, without ceasing. In Jesus name amen.
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