“Pray without ceasing…”
Paul always stressed the importance of prayer. In this verse, he wrote that we should “pray without ceasing.” He did not mean that we should isolate ourselves all of the time and pray. What he meant was that we can and need to stay in an attitude of prayer all of the time. We can pray at any time and in any place. We do need to set aside certain times of concentrated prayer where we are alone with God. This can help begin or end our day in good spirits. But we need to remember that Jesus never slumbers; He is never unaware of us. Therefore, we can consult Him any time and at any place. For example, I talk to Him while I drive. (In fact, when I’m driving on I75, do a lot of praying.) It would do you good to learn to just talk to Jesus whenever you want to or need to. One thing that we need to remember about prayer is that it is not a magic formula. We do not talk to Jesus and say some magic words and “poof” we have what we want. 1 John 5:14-15 clarifies this for us: “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, he heareth us. 15. And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” God answers us according to His will for us. Why would we want anything that was out of His will to begin with? I once talked with a woman in her forties who was dying of cancer. In the course of our conversation she told that she was mad with God. I asked her why she was mad with God. She said that when she was ten years old, she asked God for a bicycle and He did not give it to her. I hope that our talk helped her get over this. I would hate to think that she went into eternity mad with God over such a trivial matter. I think sometimes that we mistake Jesus for the “good fairy” who waves a magic wand and gives us what we want. He knows what we need and what we want might not be what we need. If we ask God for something and don’t get it, it means that He has something better for us. Do we think so little of Jesus that we think that He cannot say “no” to us? I have found in my life that when I don’t get exactly what I ask for, I get what He wants and my life is better for it. When we pray in faith, we should not be seeking what we want but what He wants. Have faith in Jesus that He knows what is best for you. Prayer is not just asking God for things. It is our means of fellowship with Him. Some of my greatest times of prayer have been when I just sat, or laid, silently and meditated on Him. This is when I can hear Him in my heart and mind and discover what He wants from me. What Jesus wants from me is much more important than what I want from Him. Sometimes we need to just reflect on God and think about who He is and what He means to us. I find that this time of prayerful reflection helps me to gain a greater love and appreciation for who and what He is in my life. I think that you will find it the same for you. I challenge you to give this a try and see if Jesus will speak to your heart and mind. It is a wonderful experience. I have heard people say that they have given up on prayer, because God never answered them. He answered, but they missed it because they were looking for what they wanted instead of what He wanted. To give up on prayer is to give up on God. It is not wise to do that. If Paul had given up on prayer, his whole story would have been different. He would not have started the churches that he did, nor would he have written the letters that he wrote that are part of our scriptures today. Take Paul’s advice and “pray without ceasing.” Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|