Let’s talk about prayer. Prayer is literally the most important conversation you can have in your life. It is a conversation between yourself and the creator of the universe.
First Thessalonians 5:16-18 states, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
This is meaning to have a constant conversation with God! When speaking about First Thessalonians 5:16-18, Charles Spurgeon stated, “Clear, then, is it from the text, that the voice, the posture, the place, the time – none of them enter into the essence of prayer, or else, in this case, we should be commanded to perform an impossibility, which we are quite certain is not after the manner of the Lord our God.” Clearly we are to pray constantly and it does not matter if we are on our knees. Curt Vernon explained in his Revival Song video, how one of His friends said, “You really think when you get to heaven you’ll find out you prayed too much?” There’s no such thing as too much prayer!
Why should we talk to Him? Doesn’t He already know what we are going to say, how we are going to say it, and exactly when we are going to say it? This illustrates to me how God is a person – He already knows our every thought but he still wants us to talk to him. He says to seek His face (2 Chronicles 7:14). We are to seek what makes God happy. We are to seek what makes God smile. Because the only reason we are here is because we make Him smile and for His glory.
How do we go about turning ourselves into a mobile prayer room for God? Here’s the insight I had shared with me by my friend Curt. How cool would it be that if instead of us desiring to merely pray without ceasing, it was more of a desire to forget how to stop praying? That sounds like an awesome habit! Charles Spurgeon in his great sermon titled “Pray Without Ceasing” states, “As we breathe without ceasing, so must we pray without ceasing. As there is no attainment in life, of health, or of strength, or of muscular vigor which can place a man beyond the necessity of breathing, so no condition of spiritual growth or advance in grace will allow a man to dispense with prayer.” Constant prayer is as important to our lives as breathing!
Think about your daily thoughts for a moment. Remember the last time you totally zoned out and weren’t thinking of anything productive. I find myself constantly thinking of the future, or worrying, or thinking about myself. Instead, imagine if every one of those moments of selfish thinking were instead devoted to God and prayer to Him. It really would be an unceasing prayer. Now I’m not saying that thinking is a sin, but I am saying from personal experience that I fully believe that time in prayer is much better spent than time in thinking selfish thoughts.
Think of it this way – instead of talking to yourself like everyone does, talk to God instead. Make God that target of all of your thoughts. Pray to Him in discipline of this. Ask Him to make his word rise up in you like a fire (Jeremiah 20:9 I am weary with holding it in, – “If I say, “I will not mention Him, or speak any more in his name”, there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”) Spurgeon States, “Wherever we seek the Lord with true hearts He is found of us; whenever we cry unto Him He heareth us. Every place is hallowed ground to a hallowed heart, and every day is a holy day to a holy man.”
