PRAY FIRSTSample

In the early church, followers of Jesus devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 2:42) and prayed continuously: “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:14 NIV). The apostle Paul urged, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 ESV).

If this amount of praying sounds unreasonable, if not impossible, to you, don’t worry—you’re not alone. A new believer once asked me, “How can I pray all the time and still get everything else done?” My answer to him reflects how I interpret the emphasis in these passages—making prayer a priority: “Pray as much as you can while you’re doing everything else!”

If prayer is meant to be communion with God, then if we do everything we do with God in mind—remaining mindful of His presence with us, His purpose for us, and His image in everyone we meet—then we can pray without ceasing, without it even being a question of quantity. This is how we pray “without ceasing.” Otherwise, it may just turn into a game of tallying how many times we talk to God with our words rather than living in prayerful communion with God, which could ultimately become an improper reliance on works rather than receiving the gracious gift of His presence with us all the time. There’s no “right amount” of times to pray—that’s the point of learning to pray first. To make it practical, I pray one-sentence prayers throughout the day—literally in every situation. It’s a constant conversation with God.

Prayer

Father, I want to be in Your presence at all times. Thank You for the reminder to always keep my focus on You and to pray without ceasing. Amen.