Pray without Ceasing

Mission impossible comes to mind when I read the words of I Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing.” Reading that verse for the first time in my early days as a follower of Jesus, struck me as a mountain too big to climb. How does one do that? The question stayed with me. While the task appeared impossible to attain, yet I knew that God’s word was true. Jesus said, “What is impossible with men, is possible with God.” There must be a way.

A.W. Tozer made this observation in the first line of his book, The Knowledge of the Holy: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Meditate on that statement. Why would my thoughts of God be the most important thing about me? You may have heard the statement, “ideas have consequences.” Indeed. Our thoughts, of course, are the precursor to our actions. As such, my life will be representative of what I’m thinking, whom I’m thinking about and what information I’m processing. So, “Yes”, what I think about God is critically important. And what I think about God will directly impact my prayer life.

God calls us into a relationship with Him. How are we to respond? Jesus stated that we are to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind and all of our strength. Our response is not to be only one of duty, but one that is whole hearted. A passion that God commends in His servant David, whom he called “a man after His own heart” I Samuel 13:14.

The Lord spoke through His prophet Jeremiah when He said to the nation of Israel, “Am I a God near at hand, and not a God afar off?” In my beginning years as a Christian, I began to study the Bible to learn who God is. A study of His attributes led me to learn about His holiness, His power, His justice and His mercy and many more. To me, during this time of my new life in Christ, God seemed to be far away. So high above the heavens that He was not near at hand. The opposite of where Israel was living. The truth, however, is what He says in His word, He is both near and far.

In seeking to grow in my nearness to God in recent times, my studies ventured into the area of friendship; specifically friendship with Christ. A concept that has been challenging for me to grasp over the years. Likely due to my personal biases or perhaps the materials used for study did not go there. Friendship is not typically seen as an attribute of God, but is descriptive of a relationship. Recently Jesus’s words in John 15 were especially impactful.

The theme song from the TV show and later movie “Mission Impossible” comes to mind when I read the words of I Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing.” Reading that verse for the first time in my early days as a follower of Jesus, struck me as a mountain too big to climb. How does one do that? The question stayed with me. While the task appeared impossible to attain, yet I knew that God’s word was true. Jesus said, “What is impossible with men, is possible with God.” There must be a way.

A.W. Tozer made this observation in the first line of his book, The Knowledge of the Holy: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Meditate on that statement. Why would my thoughts of God be the most important thing about me? You may have heard the statement, “ideas have consequences.” Indeed. Our thoughts, of course, are the precursor to our actions. As such, my life will be representative of what I’m thinking, whom I’m thinking about and what information I’m processing. So, “Yes”, what I think about God is critically important. And what I think about God will directly impact my prayer life.

God calls us into a relationship with Him. How are we to respond? Jesus stated that we are to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind and all of our strength. Our response is not to be only one of duty, but one that is whole hearted. A passion that God commends in His servant David, whom he called “a man after His own heart” I Samuel 13:14.

The Lord spoke through His prophet Jeremiah when He said to the nation of Israel, “Am I a God near at hand, and not a God afar off?” In my beginning years as a Christian, I began to study the Bible to learn who God is. A study of His attributes led me to learn about His holiness, His power, His justice and His mercy and many more. To me, during this time of my new life in Christ, God seemed to be far away. So high above the heavens that He was not near at hand. The opposite of where Israel was living. The truth, however, is what He says in His word, He is both near and far.

In seeking to grow in my nearness to God in recent times, my studies ventured into the area of friendship; specifically friendship with Christ. A concept that has been challenging for me to grasp over the years. Likely due to my personal biases or perhaps the materials used for study did not go there. Friendship is not typically seen as an attribute of God, but is descriptive of a relationship. Recently Jesus’s words in John 15 were especially impactful.

Jesus called his disciples “friends” because they knew what he was about and what he was doing.  Friendship is about relationship. Not just in one direction, but in two. It requires engagement by both parties, it’s a mutual investment. Jesus had invested in those relationships with his disciples…making known to them what he had heard from his heavenly Father. That engagement took the better part of three years….an investment of life and time. But what about the disciples? How were they friends with Jesus? Jesus shares that insight in verse 14:

His “friends” live a life of obedience to the revealed will of God, a life following His Son Jesus Christ. My prayer life is a step of obedience on my part and it also one of friendship with my Lord and Savior.

A hymn that I grew up singing was entitled “What a friend we have in Jesus.” According to some sources, it’s ranked in the top ten list of the most popular hymns. Written initially in Canada in the 19th century, as a poem by Joseph Scriven, to encourage his mother in Ireland who was seriously ill. The poem was entitled “Pray without Ceasing”. Sometime later, Charles C. Converse put the poem to music and retitled it to the popular hymn we know today. Converse clearly recognized the theme of Scriven’s words with many of the refrains encouraging us to share our burdens and to “take it to the Lord in prayer.” There is no burden that we cannot share with the Lord. The hymn is an encouraging reminder that my love (obedience) begins by coming to Him in prayer. A trust, a dependence, a desire to spend time with Him. Perhaps Converse recognized one of the keys that Scriven discovered when he wrote the poem; making possible our ability to “pray without ceasing” when he titled the hymn. Indeed, what a friend we have in Jesus.