The Apostle Paul taught us to pray unceasingly (1 Thess 5:17). When we listen to the Lord, he solves our problems for us.
4 Likes
Yes Sir, Brother! He sure does. Prayer is soo important. The people who will hear the words some day, I never knew you, are the ones with a neglected prayer life.
Matthew 6 gives us a hint of just how important it is.
Matthew 6:5-8
**5 **And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
**6 **But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
**7 **But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
**8 **Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask himā¦/KJV
It starts out, When you prayā¦He didnāt say If you pray. So it is a given that we are expected to pray. First He tells us how not to pray and after that, how to pray correctly. So pray unceasingly pretty much confirms that.
I *think* that to pray unceasingly is to walk and talk with the Lord all day long. Yes, even at work and donāt say you canāt talk to Jesus at the same time as a customer, lol. I know because I did it. I prayed my morning prayer one morning before work and the last thing I said was, Lord speak to me. Then said Amen and got up and walked out to work. As I was driving to work I remeber hearing Prayer is a Dialogue and not a Monologue, and thought, He didnāt even have a chance to answer me before I left! So I started inviting the Lord to go to work with me and I would talk to Him all day long in between service calls at different locationsā¦until I had trouble on a job and needed Him! He bailed me out and I never left Him in the truck again!
It seemed goofy a little bit, I got some wild looks from other drivers at times, lol. And I remembered scripture saying you must become as a little child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Ok, what do children do? Children play. So I made a dialogue out of it as a game. I will pray and then ask my question and then pause and listen for His answer. The rules were, the first thing that pops into my head is His answer. Sometimes a scripture would pop into my head, sometimes a thought. Then I would test that alleged answer against scripture and common sense. And for about two weeks of this it was a game. Then it changed and became a real conversation that I could hear! I was hearing Him all along and didnāt know it. I couldnāt distinguish His voice. But because was doing this constantly for two weeks it tuned my spirit in to the Lordās channel! I noticed differences between how He talks and how I talk or think. So it got easier as I went along.
And it was all started because the, I Never Knew You verse that scared me. The way I figure it, if you walk and talk with the Lord all day long every day, whoās going to hear those words, not me! Be led by the Spirit. Pray Unceasingly. Listen for His Still Small Voiceā¦
True Story.
1 Like
I like the idea of prayer being more of an ongoing connection rather than just a set moment.
At the same time, Iāve found it doesnāt always feel like a clear āconversation,ā and that used to make me wonder if I was doing it wrong. Over time, Iāve come to see it more as being present and open, even if itās quiet.
Sometimes itās just taking a moment to pause, reflect, or bring something to God, without needing a clear response right away.
3 Likes
I was at a prayer seminar once. One fellow said he opened the day with prayer and then just kept the prayer going all day.
2 Likes
Yes, that sounds just right and lovely. You sound like a mature believer. I look forward to more of your sharing. He tells us to be still. I donāt think thereās right and wrong way to pray so much as He knows our hearts. But I did hear sometime ago that there is a way to pray. I heard and try to practice it this way in general; first be thankful and list those things, then I either start at world leaders and work my way down to the helpless and those held against their will, the prayers of my brothers and sisters, what ever those are, or in reverse from the least on up. We should pray for world leaders because if they are effected by anything it should be Godās will otherwise itās the alternative though thereās a point that God closes the door on people that are given over to it. I talk to him and often remember that we are to pray ceaselessly. C.S. Lewis wrote in Screw tape Letters; that praying creates a cloud that hides us from the enemy. I donāt know if thatās biblical but we are to pray ceaselessly as per Jesus. I find it easy as I have so many on my list in general but i am not saying that my habbit is good. Iāve totally been off my better praying habits. (I am thinking about posting some general prayers here. āWhere 2 or more are gatheredā. ) Thanks for sharing sister.
1 Like
The word does tell us to, Pray Unceasingly. I read that and started inviting the Lord to go with me to work and I constantly talked to Him and tried to listen for His answer forā¦ 2 or 3 weeks? And suddenly, it most certainly did turn into a regular conversation. Best decision I ever made.
See, one morning before work (before I retired) I was saying my morning prayers before work and I remember the last thing I said was, Speak to me Lord! Amen. And then I went to work. On the way to work, He mustāve been speaking to me because I began thinking, waitaminute I asked God to speak to me and then I got up and walked out. I didnāt even give him a chance to answer me. So the next day I said my prayers and then got up still praying and I invited Him with me!
The Lord is said to be the one who sticks closer than a Brother. So He is my best frien might as well say. And you donāt go around ignoring your best friend that is with you or forget that Heās with you! And that kept me talking to Him all day long. Before I knew it, my spirit was in tune with His Spirit and will so I began hearing Him, for real. Praise the Lord only!
Oh yes Sister! And soon I bet you learn that it isnāt very hard to keep a piece of your consciousness in the background keeping aware that the Almighty Creator is with you!
I took Him to the grocery store with me andā¦I wasnt fond of that. Iād ask, Lord should I buy this? And every time He said no. I have the feeling He wants me to eat produce. He did tell me He wants me to eat regular food.
But my cook jumped ship 16 years ago for greener grass, and while I can cookā¦y back trouble took a lot of the wind out of my sails and I only seem to feel like cooking sometimes and use convenience food the rest of the time! I do like those frozen pizzas and I like to put more cheese and pepperoni on it sometimes pineapple. I wont eat fast food no more. But I digress.
Pausing to bring something to God, even small things is a good thing to do. Now. Just stay there when you are there. Abide in Him always. Itās not hard to do but challenging to learn. I think when we abide with Him, we have His protection. He is always there anyway, so when we go into the world and leave Him at the prayer mat at home, He is still with you, but you have turned your back to Him. Ponder that. Read Psalm 91 and Believe that it is true and speaking to YOU.
1 Like
Sometimes He answers me immediately. Sometimes He changes the subject! Sometimes it is crickets and Silence, Ugh! Once He told me I asked the wrong question and He changed the subject to a more pertinent question which was related to my question. Hmm, learn something new every day! One time I got the answer 2 weeks later. Sometimes He changes the feed on my youtube to bring up videos that He wants me to watch. And I get an unction when I look at it. ! Oh, me and the Lord was just talking about this last night, what this video is about. So, yeah sometimes we do not get an immediate answer.
And thatās ok. I mean, think about it, if you asked something and the Lord tells you, just a minuteā¦it might be a couple years! (1000 years = 1 day) so we must be patient and remain focused on the Lord. One guyās testimony I heard He prayed for something and the Lord told Him He would answer it and would do this, this and this for him. He was happy and patientā¦28 YEARS later it happened out of the blue for him!
1 Like
Hello Bob.
In my view of Scripture teaching, praying constantly is to pray doggedly with a daily perseverance that characterises our relationship with God. We persist in it as those whose lives are being shaped by the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. We keep on asking according to His will.
The purpose of prayer is to have our needs met in a way that directly glorifies God. We receive what we ask for if it is according to His will and because we keep His commandments. We receive what we ask for in Christās name so the Father is glorified in the Son.
If we pray with the wrong motives we will be very frustrated. God will not answer because He cannot be glorified by our self-serving requests. This is where Bible teaching is crucially important. We learn from Scripture what Godās will is and this in turn defines the nature of our prayers.
3 Likes
Well said, Brother.
More and more I have started using that line out of scripture when I pray. Of course I pray the desires of my heart but I am more mindful to try to stay within the will of God when we do pray for our desires.
So I have taken to using that line when I pray, āNevertheless not my will Lord but thine be doneā
2 Likes