A young man, still in high school, walked up to his pastor and asked him if he could help him understand one of the most “discouraging passages of Scripture he had ever read.” Trying to imagine what verse this teenager could possibly be so discouraged about, the pastor was thinking about all the deep theological verses in the Bible and was completely taken off guard when the young man said the verse that was giving him the most trouble in all the Bible was “Pray without ceasing,” (I Thessalonians 5:17).
He said, “Well, if I do what this verses says to do, I’ll never get anything else done. And if I try to do the things I have to do, like study algebra and chemistry, I can’t be praying all the time.”
Good point.
If you were that pastor, how would you answer that young man? I know we have often jokingly prayed as a family as we began to drive down the road on vacation trips and the like, and someone in the car would always say to me, “I’ll pray, you keep your eyes open and drive.”
We have the opinion that we cannot pray with our eyes open, and we cannot pray when we are thinking about anything else but prayer and God. We tend to characterize “prayer time” as having a certain place (like church) and having a certain posture (like head bowed, hands folded, eyes closed) and yes, even having a certain vocabulary (like… “In Jesus’ name, Amen!”). Some would even say prayer is not prayer unless a certain person is doing it (like the preacher). If all of these elements are not present then what happens could not possibly be called prayer, could it?
The very first place to start in answering this young man’s question, though, is to look at the definition of prayer. If prayer as defined as communication with God (and it is), then the question then becomes, how do we communicate with God without ceasing?
For anyone who has been married for any length of time, you know what it means to communicate in an ongoing fashion. Often, my bride seems to know what I am thinking without a word being spoken. And the same thing happens with me. On more occasions than I can remember, I have opened my mouth to say something at the same time she says exactly the same thing I was about to say. I guess 43 years of marriage gives you those kind of communication skills. Communicating with God is the same way – it arises out of relationship. Don’t get me wrong. God always knows what you and I are thinking. But he wants to communicate with us just the same. And our communication is simply a way for us to show Him, in our relationship with Him, that we are depending upon Him for everything – constantly.
In studying the Scriptures, one book that gives a great model for “praying without ceasing” is the Book of Nehemiah, found in the Old Testament Scriptures. In the beginning of this book, the man Nehemiah (who, by the way, was not a preacher) spends an extended time with God in prayer (check out Chapter 1). And the whole rest of the book he sends up what I call “sky telegrams:” “Lord, be with your servant.” And “Lord, don’t forsake me now!”
Nehemiah spent a lot of time in prayer preparing for his day; then he was able to carry on an ongoing conversation with God throughout the day, just as you or I would carry on a conversation with a coworker in our office or at our work stations. In other words, Nehemiah began his day with God, telling God how much he needs God to act in his life, and through his life as Nehemiah goes about his activities. Nehemiah is living his whole life as a prayer, demonstrating that wherever he is, whatever he does, he is depending upon God for His guidance, direction and strength to accomplish the tasks God has called and led him to attempt. Because of his preparation, in prayer and fasting, I might add, his moment-by-moment lifestyle was a complete and utter dependence upon God and a consciousness of God’s presence and hand in everything that Nehemiah did. That is prayer without ceasing. It begins in the heart with an attitude that says, “I am depending upon You, O Lord, for this moment in my life and for my very existence. I trust You, Lord.”
When we live our whole lives as a prayer without ceasing, we therefore acknowledge that God is in charge, and He can handle everything that happens effectively and in our best interests. That’s not discouraging news – that’s the best news ever. By the way, that includes elections and our nation’s leaders. There is not an “out” clause for praying for them.
One other thing: Don’t you love it when you are talking with someone and as you are speaking that person gets right up close to you, looks you in the eyes, and gives you his or her undivided attention, hanging on every word you utter? Doesn’t that make you want to keep on talking? Well, that is exactly how prayer works. Psalm 116:1-2 tells us that the Lord bends down to listen to our prayers, hanging on every word so He can answer.
In this election season, God calls each of us to a life of prayer without ceasing. Don’t be discouraged; but have confidence in God’s ability to handle, yes, even our nation’s elections. Yes, be encouraged.
God bless…
Chuck Tabor is a religion columnist for The Times-Gazette. He also serves as pastor of Port William UMC.
