Pray Without Ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

I read that this is, no doubt, the shortest commandment in the Bible, and seemingly the most difficult to obey. How could anyone possibly pray without ceasing? What about sleeping, or working, or other necessary pursuits?

Paul himself claimed to pray without ceasing. For example, he wrote to the Roman church in Romans 1:9: “For God is my witness …that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers”. In 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 he wrote: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith”. 2 Timothy 1:3 he wrote: “I thank God . . . that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day”.

the article clarifies that it is obvious from such references that Paul did not mean we should be uttering prayers continually, but rather to be continually in a prayerful attitude and never to stop the regular practice of prayer. In like fashion, the Lord Jesus said in Luke 18:7: “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). In the parable following this command, He spoke of God’s “own elect, which cry day and night unto him”. This would further imply that our prayerful attitude and regular practice of specific prayer should be taking place every day and every night. We should never “faint”—that is, “lose heart”—if the answer isn’t what or when we hope, but keep on praying anyway. When it’s the right time, He will, indeed, answer “speedily,” and in the right way.

To pray without ceasing means simply to be free to communicate quickly with Him, night and day, always in an attitude of prayer. “If you abide in me,” He said, “and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). When our hearts are aligned with the Lord’s heart, then He will give us the desires of our heart.