"Pray without ceasing"
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Scripture tells us that God is intimately involved in every event of our lives. So we should be interacting intimately with Him in every event of our lives.
God is Walking With Us...
God controls
- Elections (Daniel 2:21, 4:17)
- Politicians (Proverbs 21:1)
- War (Proverbs 21:31)
- Health (Exodus 4:11)
- Decisions (Proverbs 16:1)
- Disasters (Amos 3:6)
- Satan (Job 1:12)
- 666 (Revelation 17:15-17, 13:18)
- and many other things
God even controls luck (Proverbs 16:33). For an in depth study of the above scriptures and the omnipotence of God, click here. I have provide this brief list so you may know what God is doing... what He is willing and able to do. If we are to pray continually... we must know what God is doing... so we can recognize His works and know what pray in each of them. He is active in our daily lives: answering prayer, guiding, protecting and disciplining in very specific ways... He is walking with us in every trial, difficulty and victory. But He is doing much more than merely walking beside us. He is directing us. Now it is time to learn how to pray without ceasing... to walk with Him... to walk by the Spirit.
The apostle Paul wrote,
"Pray without ceasing"
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Every Time is Prayer Time!
We can't pray non-stop. But, there is a prayer for every occasion and every event. And prayer is fellowship with God, in every event. Please prayerfully consider these words of God:
- "praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful"
- "let's offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually,"
- "He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up,"
- "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
- "Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks."
References: Ephesians 6:18, Hebrews 13:15, Luke 18:1, Philippians 4:6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
We Pray When We Read Scripture
When we pray, we have intimate fellowship with God. If we don't have fellowship with God through prayer when reading scripture, how can we have fellowship with God in the events of life, in our work, in God's work or while suffering?
Scripture is the point of beginning... a point of contact with God. Scripture is where the Holy Spirit teaches us to connect with God. The heart must touch what the eye cannot see. It all depends on what happens in that very second when we come into contact with the words of God. What happens in that moment determines whether our daily devotional results in intimate and powerful interaction with God or not. That moment is the foundation of this book. When we come into contact with the word of God, we should pray. Click here to learn how to interact intimately with God as you read scripture.
A Prayer for Every Occasion:
Thirty prayers endorsed by scripture were explained in the first six subchapters of chapter 4. They are called the Endorsed Prayers. They have been organized into five categories. There are prayers for:
1) Spiritual Communication
2) Spiritual Needs
3) Making Disciples
4) Praise
5) Physical Needs, etc.
Acronyms to help you remember the Endorsed Prayers were presented in subchapter 4.8. If you are imprisoned for your faith and denied access to scripture, these acronyms will remind you of the Endorsed Prayers. Even in chains you will spread the word and demolish strongholds in the spiritual realm until your Lord choses to release you or take you home (2 Thessalonians 3:1, 2 Corinthians 10:4).
Here are a few of the Endorsed Prayers:
- When you need guidance: Ask for wisdom (4.2a).
- To know God's heart: Ask to know God's will (4.2c).
- If you are selfish: Ask God to multiply your love (4.3c).
- When you are afraid: Ask for more faith (4.3a).
- To witness to the lost: Ask God to give you words (4.4b)
- When rulers persecute Christians: Pray for their salvation (4.4f).
- When you are in pain: Praise God (4.5b).
- When you are tempted: Remain in His presence (4.3g). Ask for deliverance (4.3h).
In the Endorsed Prayers you saw how Christ and the apostles prayed or taught us to pray. In those prayers you saw how to do spiritual battle in any situation. If you do not know the Endorsed Prayers, please go to chapter 4 and prayerfully consider all of those prayers from the scriptures. There is a prayer for every part of every event of your life.
Intimate fellowship with God in this life.
God wants to have intimate fellowship with us in this life. Please prayerfully consider these words of God in your heart:
- "Enoch walked with God"
- "Noah walked with God"
- "walk humbly with your God"
- "Walk by the Spirit"
- "the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all"
- "you were called into the fellowship of his Son,"
- "our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son,"
- "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me" (Jesus is speaking.)
- "These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes." (Jesus is the Lamb.)
- "...Where I am, there my servant will also be..." (Jesus is speaking)
References: Genesis 5:24, Genesis 6:9, Micah 6:8, Galatians 5:16, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 John 1:3, John 10:27, Revelation 14:4 and John 12:26
Everything we do is to be done for, through and with God.
Please prayerfully consider these words of God in your heart. Yield to him!
- Everything: "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ"
- For: "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
- Through: "apart from me, you can do nothing"
- With: "Pray without ceasing"
- With: "...Where I am, there my servant will also be..." (Jesus is speaking)
References: 2 Corinthians 10:5, 1 Corinthians 10:31, John 15:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and John 12:26
These passages teach that everything we do is to be done for, through and with God.
God's Omnipotence and the Endorsed Prayers
As the Endorsed Prayers from chapter 4 become a part of our everyday lives and as we prayerfully meditate on the scriptures revealing God's omnipotence and His absolute control of the events of life, we come to know what God is doing in the now... we know our role in those events... we know what to pray... and how to walk... in the Spirit. To study the omnipotence of God, click here.
Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold the Lord:
Earlier in this book you read subchapter 1.3 titled, "Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold: The Sixth Path". That subchapter presented the prayer that never ends. Our lives were intended to be lived in the Sixth Path, where every time is prayer time. While on this path, we will do seemingly ordinary things like manual labor, driving a car, writing reports for work or solving math problems. But these "ordinary" things will take place on this path. They are changes of focus. At every opportune time, we turn in our spirit to God within. So, through day and night, we Turn, Turn, Turn.
We turn to him as we request his power and blessing in the task at hand. We turn to him asking for guidance, to reveal his will, so we can "please him in all respects" (Colossians 1:3-10).
So, instead of prayer being a withdrawal from daily life, the "ordinary" things of daily life are specific events that are occurring in the Sixth Path... and in each event we turn to God in prayer. So, the ordinary things take place in this never ending prayer of the Sixth Path. The ordinary things are the events that occur as we walk by the spirit.
At first, Turn, Turn, Turn may seem to be a series of separate actions in the same direction. If we are persistent in turning to Him, two things will happen. Gradually, the length of time our spirit is fixed on Him will increase. The times our spirit is not fixed on Him will decrease. The slow turning of a fan blade becomes a continuous blur as its speed increases. So, over time, Turn, Turn, Turn becomes a continual practice of living in his presence.
The scriptures are clear... Every time is prayer time... There is a prayer for every occasion.
"Pray without ceasing"
1 Thessalonians 5:17