Pray without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Other translations say it this way:
Never stop praying.
Pray continually.
Be unceasing in prayer.
This verse sounds a bit far-fetched doesn’t it?
Pray without ceasing? Really? I have a lot of other things to do in a day’s time.
And yet, as I grow closer to Him, I find that my thoughts turn more and more to Him and to prayer.
I once heard the story of two pastors at a conference who roomed together. At night, each pastor knelt beside his bed to say his prayers. The younger pastor knelt for a long time, remembering all the things on his prayer list. The older pastor knelt for just a few minutes and then got into bed, falling into a sound sleep. After two nights of this routine, the young pastor got up the nerve to ask the older pastor about his brief times in prayer. The old pastor chuckled and said, “Why, son, I was just telling the Lord good night. I’ve been praying all day!”
A couple of years ago, I was convicted to pray more for my friends and family.
I thought of those who I had promised to pray for and I examined whether I had kept that promise. Sometimes I had, sometimes I had not.
So, I learned that when someone asks me to pray for them, I must pray for them immediately, and then ask God to bring it to my mind again and again.
And He does–in the quiet of my morning devotion, in the car line, when I am driving, or when I am cleaning up my house. If we take the time to listen, He can use us to stand in the gap for others.
