"Pray without ceasing."

                    -I Thess. 5:17 

Prayer is a vital part of every Christian's spiritual growth. If we fail to spend time with God in prayer, we ought not be surprised if we find ourselves with a lack of joy and peace in our lives, for prayer is what supplies us with those things. Just as neglecting to feed our physical body leaves us weak and tired, forgetting to feed our souls through prayer and Bible study will leave us weary and rundown spiritually.

When Paul admonished the Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing", he wasn't just trying to make a point by using figurative language. He was being very literal. In fact, he was merely echoing the words of Christ Himself, who taught "...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;" (Luke 18:1) The Psalmist David also spoke of the importance of praying constantly:

"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice."

                            -Psalm 55:17

 While none of us is able to spend every waking moment on our knees before the Lord, we are all able to always have a prayer in our heart as we go about our daily lives.

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;"

                            -Ephesians 5:19

Frank Laubach once wrote, "Oh, this thing of keeping in constant touch with God, of making Him the object of my thought and the companion of my conversations, is the most amazing thing I ever ran across...Now I like the Lord's presence so much that when for a half hour or so He slips out of mind - as He does many times a day - I feel as though I had deserted Him, and as though I had lost something very precious in my life."* Let us all come to this frame of mind. Let us make Christ the object of our every thought and conversation, knowing that we are the object of His!



*Practicing His Presence - Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach (NOTE: I would highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to "practice the presence of the Lord" in their lives.)