Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)
Myriads of sermons have been preached on the topic of prayer. An untold number of books, articles, and blogs have been devoted to the subject. Yet, with all this, the topic of prayer and its importance can never be exhausted. That is why, in most of his epistles, the apostle Paul exhorts his converts to pray. It is also the reason why Jesus spoke often of prayer, exhorting his followers with parables and even taught his disciples how to pray, leaving us with a model prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).
On one occasion Jesus taught his disciples a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He then told of a widow who had approached a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. Even though the judge was commanded by God’s law to give special attention to widows, he refused to do so for a considerable amount of time. However, the widow persisted in her petition until the unrighteous judge gave her justice. (Luke 18:1-8) Her perseverance won her justice.
The main principle Jesus intends to convey in this parable is that “we should always pray and not lose heart.” “A poor widow, by her perseverance only, obtained from an unjust man what otherwise she would not have obtained. God is not unjust. He is good, and disposed to do justice and to bestow mercy. If, therefore, this wicked man by persevering prayer was induced to do justice, how much more shall God, who is good, and who is not actuated by any such selfish and base principles, do justice to them who apply to him!” (Barnes) God will give justice to his elect in this life or the next. Paul may have had this parable in mind when he exhorted the persecuted church in Thessalonica to “pray without ceasing.”
Paul uses a word for “without ceasing” that means uninterruptedly or without omission. So, what does it mean to pray without ceasing? First, one of the characteristics of God’s elect is that they pray, and they pray often. There is no circumstance in which the elect does not petition their God in prayer. Secondly, Christians should always live in an attitude of constant prayer. Geoffrey B. Wilson wrote, “Believers are so to cultivate a spirit of constant prayerfulness that their whole lives will be permeated by the presence of God.”
In exhorting us to pray without ceasing, Paul is not suggesting that Christians neglect all other responsibilities to only pray. J.B. Lightfoot wrote, “It is not in the moving of the lips, but in the elevation of the heart to God, that the essence of prayer consists. Thus amidst the commonest duties and recreations of life it is still possible to be engaged in prayer.”
Charles Spurgeon concludes, “‘Pray without ceasing.’ That precept at one stroke overthrows the idea of particular times wherein prayer is more acceptable or more proper than at others. If I am to pray without ceasing, then every second must be suitable for prayer, and there is not one unholy moment in the hour, nor one unaccepted hour in the day, nor one unhallowed day in the year. . . . Clear, then, is it from the text, that the voice, the posture, the place, the time—none of them enter into the essence of prayer, or else, in this case, we should be commanded to perform an impossibility, which we are quite certain is not after the manner of the Lord our God.”
As Christians we should earnestly persevere in constant prayer (Colossians 4:2). Our God hears us.
Is your prayer life evidence that you are God’s elect? Do you live in a constant spirit of prayerfulness?
Scriptures for meditation:
Romans 12:12
Psalm 88:1