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Our topic is "What Does It Mean to Pray Without Ceasing?" Here's Rick and Julie.
[Rick] (0:18 - 0:25) Welcome, everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a long-time contributor.
Julie, what's our theme scripture for this episode?
[Julie] (0:25 - 0:29) 1 Thessalonians 5:17: "Pray without ceasing."
[Rick] (0:29 - 1:16) To live a truly dedicated Christian life is to live a life that has a firm grasp on prayer. It's a life that strongly and regularly seeks out God's will and blessing in all that we do. It also seeks to regularly ask for blessings and providence over the lives of our fellow disciples.
There are many scriptures that teach us about how to pray and how not to pray. So, how does all of this fit into the life of a Christian living in the 21st century? Does the fact that our life experiences are so vastly different than the times of the apostles change or alter anything?
We are taught to "pray without ceasing." How can we practically accomplish this on top of managing all of the other responsibilities of life?
[Julie] (1:16 - 1:50) This episode is the third of our Christian Conduct Series, where we're carefully examining God's instructions to us given by the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24. Before we get into this "pray without ceasing," we want to do a quick recap of 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 to see how Paul got us to this point. In these verses, Paul taught the Thessalonian brethren and us about respecting and appreciating our shepherds -- our church leaders.
He then taught us how to mutually care for each other and thereby contribute to the health of our church.
[Rick] (1:51 - 2:10) You've got that as a baseline. Paul next introduced six powerful, internal and interconnected growth lessons. Powerful, internal and interconnected growth lessons.
The first of these lessons serves as a foundation for the rest of them. The first one, Julie, this is a tough scripture, I know. 1 Thessalonians 5:16:
[Julie] (2:10 - 2:30) "Rejoice always." There's no excuse not to memorize that one. This is one of those that we call the "staccato texts." Those are short, impactful phrases that stand out from the Apostle Paul's usual longer sentences:
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; quench not the spirit.
[Rick] (2:31 - 2:53) We've got that "rejoice always" as the baseline. To "rejoice always" is to live with a thriving, calm, and happy state of mind. It's not euphoria.
It's this thriving and calmness. This state of mind is nourished by focusing on the scriptural examples of Jesus and the brotherhood handling their trials, their sufferings, and their testings.
[Julie] (2:53 - 3:08) Yes, and we're going to find that the answer to how we "rejoice always" is in the next two staccato lessons: "pray without ceasing" that we're going to talk about today, and "in everything give thanks." Together, these three can give us a kind of spiritual resilience.
[Rick] (3:08 - 3:31) It's important to recognize these three as working together. We've got "rejoice always" as the baseline. Today, we're looking at "pray without ceasing."
This state of mind is a solid base. The state of mind of "rejoicing always," thriving, is the solid base for this next important lesson, which is 1 Thessalonians 5:17:
[Julie] (3:31 - 3:45) "Pray without ceasing;" The Greek word here for "without ceasing" means "constantly recurring," "without intermission," "incessantly." It implies a continuity.
Does this mean we're supposed to pray out loud 24/7?
[Rick] (3:46 - 3:57) I hope not, because I'm a miserable failure, if that's the case. The "pray without ceasing" really comes down to the attitude of prayerfulness that should never be turned off.
[Julie] (3:58 - 4:07) Okay, so just like "rejoice always," "pray without ceasing" is a state of being. It's like having a continual lifeline of sincere, trusting communication with our Father.
[Rick] (4:07 - 4:31) Yes, this broad-based word for pray includes a wide variety, a wide number of types of prayers that we will get into as we go a little bit further. The message here is be regularly in a prayerful state of mind, not necessarily talking, but in a regularly prayerful state of mind without omitting any part of our experience or opportunities in that prayerful state of mind.
[Julie] (4:31 - 5:03) Now we want to consider the practicality of how we're going to do this. We want to examine the kind of things Paul said that he did without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3: "We give thanks to God always (meaning at all times) for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers constantly (and that's the same word translated as without ceasing) constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father."
[Rick] (5:03 - 5:45) Paul is giving us examples of what "without ceasing" looks like, and he's saying he is prayerfully and continually remembering them (the Thessalonians) for who they were and what they stood for. It's interesting because he's going back to "bearing in mind your work of love and steadfastness." He's remembering what he saw.
He's remembering who they were becoming, and he constantly brings that before the Lord. That's one of his "without ceasing" examples. He is praying constantly.
He's showing us, "This is important to me, and therefore it's important to bring before the heavenly Father." Let's go now to 1 Thessalonians 2:13:
[Julie] (5:45 - 6:00) "For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe."
[Rick] (6:01 - 7:24) In this scripture, again, he's constantly praying. He's showing us he's living "pray without ceasing." But here, his continually prayerful attitude is this gratitude regarding how they wholeheartedly accepted God's word under severe conditions.
This is important because the experience of the Thessalonians (we went over this in a few episodes ago) was very difficult. Paul was only able to be there for a very short time, and they had to escort him out of town before people came and hunted him down. He is remembering how they received the word.
He's going back to something that already happened, and yet he prays about it again and again and again. Why? Because it is such a matter of gratitude that he's bringing it before God, and it motivates him.
Even though it already happened, he brings it before God. That's an important ... this is an important principle because this continued prayer of thanks shows us the apostle's deep appreciation of God's calling being so genuinely and impactfully received by these brethren. The lesson is: DON'T FORGET THE BLESSINGS!
Don't forget. By remembering them, bring them before God. It really is... that's part of this -- you use the word incessant -- part of this incessant praying.
Let's go a little further to another example of something Paul does "without ceasing." Let's look at Romans 1:9:
[Julie] (7:24 - 7:39) "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers." "Without ceasing," continually, incessantly -- this doesn't mean Paul never ate or slept, it just means continually.
[Rick] (7:40 - 8:08) Here his prayerful attitude is towards the brotherhood in general. We saw two examples toward the Thessalonians, but you can see that this is the way he operated. When he teaches us, "pray without ceasing," he's saying, this is what I do.
These are the important things. His prayerful attitude toward the brotherhood was regularly engaged toward all of the brotherhood, because it was engaged, because his gratitude for the brotherhood was regularly engaged.
[Julie] (8:08 - 8:09) Oh, that's good.
[Rick] (8:09 - 8:53) You take the gratitude that you have. Paul's prayers verified his gratitude. They made his gratitude become even greater and bigger because he brought that gratitude before the Father.
What a powerful example of PRACTICAL AND PERPETUAL PRAYER: To "pray without ceasing" is to habitually bring those things that regularly come to and dwell in our hearts and minds before God. It's to take these thoughts, it's to take these observations and these experiences and send them upward to be held and cared for by our Father.
That's the key. It is letting things to be put into His hands, not ours.
[Julie] (8:53 - 9:46) Yes. Here are some practical examples: You might've heard of "micro prayers" or "breath prayers."
These are a few words you can say in a single breath. You might whisper thanks. You might ask for wisdom or express your concern to God in real time.
You might pray an "echo prayer," where you recite a memorized scripture back to God. Something I just learned, "flare prayers." These are short and often in a state of distress or decision-making or even desperation.
You think of an emergency flare that's sent up into the darkness as a call to rescue, a flare prayer. You think of your prayers as being perhaps an "inner dialogue." You keep an open line of communication with God in our minds.
It's like we're walking with someone whom we trust. The point is to develop a spiritual reflex where we turn to God instinctively, regardless of whether things are going really well, really bad or somewhere in between.
[Rick] (9:47 - 10:45) Yeah. Those are really, really good examples to give us permission to have those ways of prayer be part of our lives. Just from a very personal perspective, Julie, I had never labeled any of those things.
Those are great, great labels. But in my own experience, all of those things are just regularly present. Especially when there's a situation, that I do a lot of work with those who are having troubles and difficulties.
Those "flare prayers" go up just like fireworks sometimes. "Lord, I don't know what to say. Lord, help them.
Help them be calm." Inevitably, there's a pathway. It's so important to have prayer as that ever-present experience, that ever-present state of mind that helps us to get through things.
Let's go a little bit further now. How do more specific types of prayers fit into our pray without ceasing mentality? Let's now expand this a little bit.
Let's look at Philippians 4:6-7:
[Julie] (10:46 - 11:47) "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (that's grateful language-- remember you can't be thankful and resentful at the same time) with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus."
I learned a lot in studying this week. One of the things I learned was I have always glossed over "prayer and supplication." If you had asked me last week what "supplication" meant, I don't think I could have given you a good answer.
"Supplication" comes from the Greek word meaning petition, which comes from another Greek word meaning to beg or to plead. So this is a specific earnest request. This isn't just general prayer.
This is asking God for something with deep need and humility. Paul pairs the act, the general act of communing with God, prayer, with the specific act of asking, supplication. In other words, he's saying, talk to God about everything, but don't be afraid to ask Him for what you need.
[Rick] (11:47 - 12:07) Asking Him for what you need oftentimes is a very intense experience because sometimes our needs are very intense. That's what supplication or petition really means: "This is really profoundly on my mind."
We're taught to put that in with our regular prayer activities.
[Julie] (12:07 - 12:13) Right. Remember this: all supplications are prayers, but not all prayers are supplications.
[Rick] (12:13 - 12:58) That's good. That's a good way to look at it. Now also notice in this scripture how supplication, petition, is coupled with thanksgiving.
The two need each other. It's no accident. Our deep entreaty to God is best offered in the context of an overwhelmingly thankful heart expressed with thankful words.
A thankful heart expressed with thankful words and pouring out your heart for what you need. If we can have thankfulness as the basis for that, it really is going to help us be able to express what the deep needs are. God gets it.
He gets it. But we want to show Him our gratitude for even listening and then wait for His providence to unfold.
[Julie] (12:58 - 13:18) There's a fine line between that and demanding something of God. We hear people who follow the Prosperity Gospel, for example, they might say you have to "decree and declare," "name it and claim it." You direct God to what He needs or doesn't need to do.
Is that supplication? Is that how we claim the promises of the Bible?
[Rick] (13:19 - 14:01) No, actually that "decree and declare," I think, is idolatry. Think about it. What you're doing is you're proclaiming and demanding.
This is what's going to happen. You are taking the place of God. "You shall have no other gods before Me."
That's an idolatrous way to approach the humility of prayer. Jesus himself, in supplication, prayed for things that he needed, but he always prayed with "nevertheless." Nevertheless not my will, but Thy will be done.
Incidentally, when he prayed that prayer, God said no to Jesus. I'm not going to grant what you're asking. You need to go through this.
[Julie] (14:01 - 14:02) That was in the Garden of Gethsemane.
[Rick] (14:02 - 14:42) Yes. That is how we should approach our petitions. Now, supplications...
Supplications are an intense request to have a need fulfilled. We were just discussing that. Be it for ourselves or be it for others.
Well, this is not always the way we pray. You mentioned the difference between just regular prayers of praise and worship and gratitude and so forth versus supplication. It's certainly an important part of our praying without ceasing.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul reminds us to pray in the spirit as we pray with supplication. Now we've got the thanksgiving piece, and now we're adding in the spirit along with supplication. Ephesians 6:18:
[Julie] (14:42 - 15:19) "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" Now, before you tell us what it means to "pray in the spirit," the context of this is that the last seven verses were all about putting on the whole armor of God in order to be able to withstand evil. Now that you're all suited up, you don't go into battle without prayer.
You look around ... we are to make supplication for all saints. We're not alone on that battlefield. We are concerned for the safety of our fellow soldiers, too.
Okay, with that context, what does it mean to "pray in the spirit?"
[Rick] (15:20 - 16:12) "In the spirit" implies that we are focusing our prayers on seeing matters handled by God's grace, by God's spirit, and in God's way. In other words, not my way. In other words, I am going to say, Lord, I want this to be able to unfold.
If it's Your will, I want this to happen. All of that -- we give our preference -- and then we lay it before the Lord, and our answer is, Whatever You bring me back, I am going to rejoice in. "Praying in the spirit" removes me from being the centerpiece and allows God's spirit to be the conduit through which I can communicate and therefore receive what His blessing and His will will be.
That's important, okay? In the spirit, not in my preference. I'm not praying in Rick's preference.
I'm praying in God's spirit.
[Julie] (16:12 - 16:17) That's serious because you have to be in that mindset of being able to give up self for that.
[Rick] (16:17 - 16:53) When you have these big petitions -- these big supplications, these big intercessions -- this is really important because we can easily get into the mindset of telling God what to do. We can tell Him that's how we feel, and that's perfectly acceptable. But what we need to do is to make sure that we are looking for His guidance and willing to put our preference completely aside, forget about it, put it behind us.
Praying in the spirit is very important. Another aspect of this "praying without ceasing" is not about repetition. Rather, it's about sincerity.
That's another big point. Matthew 6:7-8:
[Julie] (16:54 - 17:25) This is Jesus speaking: "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."
Okay, Rick, sometimes when something big is happening in my life, I might pray the same prayer over and over as I'm going through that experience. Should I be worried that it's wrong to repeat a prayer or repeat scriptures out loud that I've memorized? Why pray it all if God already knows before I asked Him?
[Rick] (17:25 - 18:22) All right. Well, first of all, the repetition part, is it wrong to repeat a prayer? No, it's not wrong to repeat a prayer.
But let's make sure that as we're repeating the prayer, it maintains its meaning. In the scripture, it said when you pray, don't use "meaningless repetition" as the Gentiles do. Meaningless repetition is just that --
it's filling up space. A repetition with great intensity and great meaning is very different and is, I think, very acceptable. Of course, to repeat scriptures is always, always appropriate.
"Thou will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on the <Thee> Lord." My mind is trying to be stayed on You, but I don't feel a perfect peace. You said, You will keep me in perfect peace when my mind is stayed on You.
That kind of repetition is important because it's the pouring out of the heart. We want to make sure that we're understanding it's the sincerity and repetition is okay.
It's workable within that sincerity. So many Christians pray the Lord's Prayer.
[Julie] (18:22 - 18:24) That's "Our Father, which art in heaven..."
[Rick] (18:24 - 18:42) Right, right. It's a beautiful example of what prayer should look like. The worry about that is, am I thinking it?
Am I really dwelling on it? Or am I just repeating the words? Let's not just repeat the words because then we're just checking the box saying, yes, I prayed.
It's not about just repeating the words. It's about the sincere communication.
[Julie] (18:43 - 18:46) Why would I pray if God already knows what I need before I ask Him?
[Rick] (18:47 - 19:33) Because you need to put it in His hands. And He can answer us by letting us have our faith in Him solely and completely. He will uphold us with His righteous right hand, but we have to go there.
That's where we have to live. Prayer brings us there. Yeah, God already knows, but He needs us to know that He knows and to have faith in His knowing and have faith in His providence.
Okay, let's continue. Paul continues this thought of sincere, spiritually sounding prayers. Now we're going to go back to the Ephesians 6 scripture.
He continues this thought and he's likely asking for specific supplications or intercessions on his own behalf for his own strength, his own clarity, and his own fortitude.
[Julie] (19:34 - 20:10) Yes, so let me go back and reread Ephesians 6:18 where we left off, and this is the King James: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; ..." Now we continue verses 19 and 20 <Ephesians 6:19-20>:
"... All perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." He's asking for supplication on his own behalf so that he can really preach the gospel.
[Rick] (20:10 - 21:22) He's saying, I'm in chains, I'm in bonds, and I need your prayers for my encouragement to do what I am supposed to do. I am feeling weak, pray for me. That's what he is putting out there.
He's asking for supplications on his behalf, and that's appropriate. That's part of our "pray without ceasing." Added to our continually prayerful attitude and action, we now see the importance of supplication for God's will in our own challenges as well as intercession for others and their challenges.
Let us not be afraid to bring our brotherhood before God with their challenges and ask for His will to be done and ask for mercy and grace and how we can be of a blessing and so forth. Let's go a little bit further now. Let's talk about Jesus.
Jesus absolutely had a "pray without ceasing" attitude. I mean, he would seek solitude to be with his Father. He would sometimes pray all night, and he brought his deepest and most intense needs before his Father.
We're going to look at a scripture in Hebrews 5:7-9, and it really reveals a depth and intensity that is not elsewhere mentioned in scripture:
[Julie] (21:23 - 22:49) "In the days of his flesh, he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save him from death, (we know that this is more accurately translated, save him out of death) and he (Jesus) was heard because of his piety.
Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. And having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation," This was really the ultimate prayer at the ultimate crisis.
Jesus is fully identifying with human suffering, and it's saying in the days of his flesh, he'd offered up prayers and supplications. This word for "supplications" is a completely different Greek word, and it's only used once in the Bible. Other translations say petitions, pleas, appeals, and entreaties.
It looks like Paul, writing the book of Hebrews, chose a word that would have been familiar to that culture. Let me just read a quick Bible Commentary by David Guzik: "This word <supplications> means 'an olive branch wrapped in wool' because that's what the ancient Greek worshipper held in wave to express their desperate prayer and desire."
This was a visual symbol showing peaceful and humble intent, sacredness, vulnerability, especially if you were approaching a ruler or in a sacred ceremony. It would be similar to how in modern times waving a white flag we know symbolizes surrender.
[Rick] (22:50 - 23:37) Wow. When it says he offered both prayers and supplications, the word "prayers" is the word for supplication. He offered up petitions and this entreaty, which was so incredibly deep.
What it's telling us is that his prayers were raw. They were just laid out before his Father, because he knew that his experience was a one-time shot, and doing it incorrectly would not get anybody anything, that the ransom wouldn't be paid, and so forth. We can see the end of the scripture that he became -- having been made perfect, having been completed by these hard experiences -- he became to all of those who obey him the source of eternal salvation.
That's the end result. The prayers contributed to him becoming this source of eternal salvation.
[Julie] (23:38 - 23:52) I just wanted to add one sentence by Guzik: "Significantly, this supplication of Jesus (remember it's olive wood and with wool) took place in a garden of olives -- and he supplied the 'wool' being the Lamb of God." Isn't that beautiful?
[Rick] (23:53 - 24:13) That is. That's beautiful. You take that and you recognize the depth and the intensity of prayer, and that's an example for us to follow.
God is willing to hear that. That's what we need to understand. He's willing to answer that.
We've got to put ourselves in the right attitude. This reminds us of Psalm 62:8:
[Julie] (24:14 - 24:21) "Trust in Him at all times, o people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah."
[Rick] (24:21 - 25:17) He is. Think on that. Pause and consider.
He is a refuge for us. Again, Jesus' attachment to his Father was so strong that he pleaded that his work and his mission were acceptable, that he therefore be raised out of death, like you said, as his mission had to be perfectly completed. There had to be a perfect fulfillment of the Law, and there had to be perfect obedience put in place.
We don't have that challenge. We don't have that level of responsibility. But we can have the same intensity of unsurity, same intensity of trying to rise above the things that are before us.
When appropriate, our "praying without ceasing" should include such intense pleading as well. It is entirely appropriate to do so. Our "praying without ceasing" also includes the necessity of praying based upon the words of Jesus and the word of God.
Let us not forget that important ingredient, John 15:7-8:
[Julie] (25:18 - 25:29) "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples."
[Rick] (25:30 - 26:32) You bear much fruit and prove to me be my disciples. My words must abide in you. That doesn't mean, Julie, you just listen.
"Oh, I heard you. Yep." No, They take, they abide, they take root, they begin to grow.
That's what we have to base our prayer life on, our Christianity on. Spiritual fruitage is a result of spiritual growth and development, which are nurtured by the word and not by our own ideas, our own preferences, and our own desires. What Rick wants, what Rick thinks, and what Rick is looking toward is irrelevant when it comes to the accomplishment of God's will in Rick's life.
That's what it needs to come down to. Make sure we have the words of Jesus and the word of God dwelling within us so that can direct us. That's part of praying "in the spirit."
Our "praying without ceasing" needs to be to the best of our ability, in all cases, have a solid basis of thanksgiving and of praise. Let's look at the thanksgiving piece first, Colossians 4:2-4:
[Julie] (26:33 - 26:52) "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving (grateful language); praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak."
[Rick] (26:52 - 27:27) The Apostle is telling us to be devoted to praying, keeping alert, again, with grateful language, and having this thanksgiving, this gratitude that is a baseline. Even if life is falling apart, you know what we can be grateful for? God is there. His providence will overrule.
We can always be grateful in the worst times, "thank you for," and then put everything else in place. Have that basis of thanksgiving, and then we need to have a basis of praise as well. Hebrews 13:15:
[Julie] (27:27 - 28:20) This is now my new favorite scripture: "Through him <Jesus> then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." What jumped out at me is the "sacrifice of praise."
This frames praise as a replacement for the original Temple sacrifices. A sacrifice implies something valuable has been given. Praise becomes sacrificial when it's offered even at difficult times.
I think of Job when he said in Job 1:21: "The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord." That's sacrificial praise. Paul and Silas sang while in prison in Acts 16:25. This sacrificial praise is tough to do, but it reframes our circumstances, and it declares that God is still worthy, regardless of how we're feeling. He's looking out for our best spiritual welfare.
[Rick] (28:20 - 28:49) When you think of the sacrifice of praise, just reading the words, it may not feel like it makes sense, but by putting those scriptures to it, you can get a sense of, in all times, at all places, God is praise worthy, because He is eternal, because His plan was from before the beginning of time. He is absolutely worthy of our praise, no matter what. That's "sacrifice of praise," and it's important for us to bring that out and to offer it up.
[Julie] (28:49 - 29:34) Yes, and the second phrase that jumped out at me, of course, is "fruit of lips." This is our spiritual produce, and you had said earlier that Paul's prayer verified his gratitude. Fruit is the outward appearance of what's happening on the inside.
This is what's coming from our mouths when our heart is aligned with God. Our words, our songs, our prayers, offered continually and all through Jesus. Praise shouldn't be a reaction.
It should be part of our rhythm of communication -- our communion with God. "Constantly" here means: through all time. This is something that's uninterrupted, and it's permanent. Psalm 34:1: "I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth." That's "fruit of lips!"
[Rick] (29:34 - 29:37) Notice that's not meaningless repetition.
[Julie] (29:38 - 29:38) No.
[Rick] (29:38 - 30:26) There is depth and sincerity and clarity and objective involved there. There's intention with all of these things. When we talk "pray without ceasing," this is not mindless activity.
It can be done in so many different ways, but the point of it is to have that communication. PRACTICAL AND PERPETUAL PRAYER: To pray without ceasing is to adopt a consistent and unbreakable connection with our heavenly Father through Jesus. Consistent and unbreakable.
It's to tell Him our deepest struggles. It's to ask for His guidance and power in our lives and in the lives of others. It is to praise.
It is to thank. It is to honor. It is to worship regularly.
Those are all parts of what pray without ceasing is built upon.
[Julie] (30:27 - 30:39) Yes, prayer is our default, our reflex response as we move about our day. It's our constant spiritual connection. "Praying without ceasing." It's a privilege.
And the question is, am I using it?
[Rick] (30:39 - 31:38) That really is the biggest question. We've got the example of "pray without ceasing." The Apostle has shown us what it means.
He had demonstrated in his own life, in his own action, in his own activity. He put things in order. Then we're given all these scriptures about the different kinds of prayer and how they fit in and how it comes from within.
The kind of "pray without ceasing" has to come from within us and not from the outside. When it comes from within, what we're doing is we're communicating through Jesus to the Father of all things, who has the power of providence over our lives, the power of His spirit to work through us and with us. Am I using that privilege?
Pray without ceasing. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners.
We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode: "Can We Really Be Thankful in Everything?"
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