Praying without ceasing

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (New International Version)]

Pray continually. Or as I was taught, pray without ceasing. As a little boy growing up in a parsonage, I would try to imagine myself in that never-ending prayer meeting, on my knees, going over and over my list of prayer concerns. I could barely stay awake for thirty minutes of those old-time Wednesday night sessions. I figured that scripture must be just for old people like most of the ladies that were kneeling in the pews around me.

As a teenager I of course got much smarter and assigned the whole passage to the category of allegory, figurative, impossible. It was just not reasonable that anyone could be joyful ALWAYS, pray CONTINUALLY, give thanks in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. There was just so much more to life than joyfully saying prayers of thanks. Like bicycles and bruises, crushes and heartaches, playing and fighting with siblings and parents. Like having a life.

I am still learning that the meaning I assign to words is often different from what the author and/or translator intended. I understood prayer to be how we asked God to do stuff for us: forgive us; heal our grandmothers; protect the missionaries; make someone love us; help us get a better car, job, or house.

An earlier verse in 1 Thessalonians actually gives an example of how Paul practiced the art of praying continually. "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work ...." [1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (New International Version)] Look at those words, then look again at the words at the beginning of this post. There is a lot of similarity and overlap.

I believe praying continually is simply including God in all our conversation, whether we are mumbling to ourselves, joking with a friend, crying with a confidant, or spending some face-time with Jesus. How will your conversation change if you include God in all your jokes, gripes, wahoos, and OMG's.

Pray without ceasing. Try it. He's already listening, hanging on every word, every thought, 24/7, just waiting for you to include him. Talk about a BFF.