PRAY, PERSIST, PREVAIL – PRAY!

Pray without ceasing – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

 REFERENCE:

1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-19

Prayer is a relationship with God, it is communicating and sharing your time with God, infact it is one of the best investments of time. Francis Fenelon said, “Time spent in prayer is never wasted time.” This is so true, because when we pray, we are making spiritual investments in our lives, in our future and in our children; we are building our faith and spiritual muscles to handle the issues of life, it also guarantees that we will not become victims of the devil in life.

Today’s text admonishes us to pray without ceasing; this means we should pray nonstop, punctuate our moments with intervals of recurring prayer, turn our secret wishes to prayers. It means our prayers do not end after our morning devotions, No! Prayer becomes a lifestyle as we make it a habit to pray as we move along the day.

John Newton and a group of friends gathered in the 19^th century to discuss what it meant to pray without ceasing. They battled the topic for over 45minutes and came up empty. Finally, one of them casually asked the serving maid what she thought it meant. She replied, “When I get up in the morning, I cloth myself, I pray that the Lord Jesus might cloth me with His righteousness today. When I came down here before you men came and I dusted the furniture, I prayed that He might cleanse me from the filth of my soul. When I set before you this food and this drink, I prayed that Jesus Christ might be my meat and drink until life eternal. So, sirs, I just kind of pray my way through the day.” This exactly is what it means to pray without ceasing.

It is evident that God wants prayers to be sustained. The devil goes about seeking whom he may devour, he does it 24/7, without a break and without ceasing, but many Christians are 1/7 Christians. We live ignorant of the fact that we live in a system ruled by the prince of the power of the air. Jesus Himself recognized that, and He made prayer a priority in His ministry. Prayer was the responsibility of every believer in the early church as well. They ALL gave themselves to the apostles’ doctrines and to prayers. They all assembled together in one place and prayed. They never joked with the hour of prayer. They were committed to keeping the prayer hour sacred.

Prayer is the link that connects us to God and even to one another. When we pray together, we feel a sense of bonding and family, we realize that our burdens are shared by others and we feel strongly confident, knowing that someone somewhere is praying for us. It is said, “A family that prays together stays together.” The more you need to accomplish, the more your need to pray. Prayer moves mountains and prayer moves the Hands of God – “For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” Praying without ceasing gives us the mind of Christ and enables us to instruct him.

So, the call to prayer is a call to draw closer to God, to enrich your relationship with Him, to spend quality time in His presence, until He can trust you with the secrets of His heart and commit the destinies of men and nations into your hands. If you start it with prayers it will end in praise.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL STUDY

1 Corinthians 2:16, Matthew 17:20-21 & James 5:16-18

REFLECTION

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.