When was the last time you prayed without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17)? I don't mean...a 5 minute "I'm going to sleep" prayer or even a 30 second "thanks for the grub" prayer...but a time that you prayed without stopping. We are so accustomed to our Americanized life that we view prayer as a compartment of our spiritual life instead of a completer of our spiritual life. We know that we are to pray before we eat a meal, before we go to bed, during a church service, while taking a test that we forgot to study for, and when we need God to come and save the day. And there are some exceptions that we make, such as:
"It's only an ice cream, so we don't have to pray for it."
"I am just so tired that I just decided to sleep and let God know what I was going to say."
"Well, the preacher got up and was praying for everybody, so I just sat there and thought about what was for lunch."
So many of us, me included, are guilty of treating the privilege of prayer like a beat up pickup truck. We just toss it around and say, "It doesn't matter" and we assume that the truck will be run the way you want it to. The sad thing is that we expect God to "run the way we want Him to", so we just spend time with Him when we need to take a bunch of junk to the dump.
Prayer is not closing your eyes. It is not bowing your head. It is not a moment of silence. It is not a "spiritual experience." Prayer is talking to God.
Think with me for a minute. How well would a pilot fly a plane if he had a radio that only received calls and did not put out any calls, and he had absolutely no visibility. He could be warned of dangers of obstacles in his path and be given some simple instructions and possibly even crash-land the plane; however, it would be impossible to have a good and acceptable landing without a two-way conversation. God speaks to us through His Word, The Bible, and we speak to God through prayer. When working together in the life of a believer, a good and acceptable landing will take place in Heaven.
Prayer is vitally important not only in extreme conditions but in every aspect of our lives. Paul tells the church in Thessalonica that they must rejoice evermore and pray without ceasing. By this Paul is telling them that their life should produce both joy and prayerfulness. They should be characteristics of a believer. When someone sees you, how much joy do you have? How much are you dependent on prayer? Paul was not telling us to walk around with heads bowed, eyes closed, beating our heads with boards, and repeating a rhythmic prayer. That is not prayer; that is religious stupidity.
Prayer is simply talking with God. If God can hear our words, see our actions, know our thoughts, and discern our motives, then all that we do, He knows. Therefore, when you yell at your spouse, you are praying. When you back talk your parents, you are praying. When you gossip about another person, true or false, you are praying. Is God pleased with your prayers? If God knows our hearts, then prayer is much more than words.
In fact many people can "woo" a crowd with a fantastic King James Version prayer that floats with Iambic Pentameter and rhymes every other line, but that is not prayer. God is more interested in a life that prays "talk to God" in a good and faithful way, than in a life that looks good on the outside but is trashed on the inside.
Instead of trying to fit prayer into your spiritual life, let prayer be the duct tape that holds your spiritual life together. We can do nothing on our own, so through prayer and supplication, let your request be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6). The more that you live a life that understands you are always praying to God; the more you will take time to pause and verbally talk with God.
So how spiritually strong are we? As a Christian, how are our prayers being heard by God? Is he pleased by how we talk to Him? Don't make a space for prayer, because it will not fit into a space...instead, allow your knowledge of prayer and your life of prayer build your spiritual life. As we exercise our spiritual life, how well do we "walk" our prayers...
