Pray without Ceasing

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By Jeff Foerster

Pray without ceasing. What? This instruction blows my mind, my one-track mind. I don’t multitask. I don’t multitask because if I attempt it, something gets broken or someone gets hurt. For me, to “pray without ceasing” means becoming a monk and giving up driving a car, washing laundry, or even cooking a meal. I have about as much chance at successfully obeying this command as I do with “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Prayer is relational conversation.

Praying without ceasing makes a lot more sense when I consider that God is with me. He is with me as sure as a friend sitting across from me at a café or sharing a good meal at a restaurant. What do you talk about with others? You talk about how you’ve been spending your time, what happened while at work, what made you upset, that you couldn’t believe that guy in that car who did that thing or that woman in that place who said what she said—imagine her nerve! You sit around recalling that time that thing happened and you laugh ‘til tears stream down your face and your gut cries out for mercy. You share what makes you sad and what brings fear to your heart. You listen to what the other person thinks is important, and you wrestle with ideas and plans and hopes and dreams. You are in relationship.

What do you believe?

What do you believe about prayer? Not what you think—what you would tell me you believe. What do you actually believe? Do you know? To know, you must look to your actions, your “fruit.”

Here’s another way to say the same thing: How is your relationship with Jesus? I didn’t ask for your theology—what you think about Him, or what you believe about His sacrifice, as important as these are. I’m not asking you if you have prayed to receive His forgiveness, though without it there is no relationship. I am asking if you are close to Him, or if “distant” would be a more apt description. Is He called when you need something, when other avenues fail? Or do you talk to Him about everything? Do you share the triumphs and failings of the day as well as listen for His response, His questions, His leading? What would happen if you stopped talking with your spouse or your best friend for a day? A week? A month? Distance would grow, and your relationship would wither.

God is much more than any person you are connected to. He cares for you with greater passion and greater wisdom, and He knows you better than even you do. He is more than a resource for you to employ. He is heaven itself, in a person. To pray without ceasing means to lean into relationship with Jesus, with the Spirit, with the Father. Brian Sharpe spoke of A.C.T.S. in the Sunday sermon as a tool to help engagement in prayer, conversation starters. These concepts are found in the Scriptures—sometimes referred to as God’s love letters to humanity. In these, God woos us with His undying love with which He died for us. Time and again His message is one of control—He’s got it and I can let it go. The plan was formed long ago before the first of us were formed from earth. We are His beloved creations to whom He has endowed the right to become His children. God has engaged us; He made the first move, but an intimate relationship requires 100% from both—what will you do?

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