rMag

Practically Speaking “Without Ceasing” or, The Art of Praying Practically

Katie Nelson

My annoying alarm clock announced the hour in its usual mechanical tone.  “Eeep eep, eep eep.” I am not a morning person. I wanted more sleep, more rest. I whined to no one in particular, “Why do I have to wake up?” I flopped out of bed and lay on the floor, still trying to sleep. “God,” I prayed, “I need help getting up.”

It must have been God that picked me up off the rug, opened my eyes, and gave me life every morning, because I was powerless alone.

Last year, I had more responsibilities than ever before. I had a job, an online class, and a new violin teacher who expected me to do my best. It was tough, but I survived, and I grew spiritually. At the beginning of the year I tried to fulfill responsibilities by myself. That failed. I realized that if I was going to meet these expectations, I needed help. After all, I could hardly get out of bed. I began asking God for help whenever I felt tired or worried or discouraged, which was almost all the time. Then, I learned about diligence, I discovered that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and I glimpsed the sheer power of praying without ceasing. Everything I did ceased to be something “I” did and became something “God and I” accomplished. All this was because I was forced to pray continually.

I stumbled upon something that year. I had been neglecting a part of my prayer life, the part I needed in order to live like a Christian. Prayer every evening was a habit I seldom skipped,  but I did not communicate with God during the day. Praying continually is talking to God all day. This is not lengthy, meditative prayer. I’ll call this practical prayer. These are the little prayers that don’t demand much concentration that we say through the whole day. It’s how we walk through life. Short, frequent, practical prayers are like breathing. Breathing might seem simple, but it is vital. Prayer, connecting us to God, is the Christian lifeline. If we stop breathing, we die. Similarly, when we stop praying we become weak, and eventually, spiritually paralyzed.

I do not think that when Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing”(1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV), he means that we should be on our knees 24/7, meditating on deep theological truths, grappling with emotions and experiences, incessantly offering words to God. That kind of prayer, while wonderful in its own season, is impossible to maintain indefinitely, and I do not think that is what the verse means. Neither should one choose a prayer and make it a kind of mantra methodically repeated over and over again. If one’s heart and mind are not involved, then in my opinion, one is not really praying. I think Paul was referring to practical praying, the only kind that humans can perpetually maintain.  A different kind of prayer deals with the future. Another kind deals with the past.  They each have their place, but practical prayer, the kind I am talking about here, deals only with the present.

Occasionally, it is appropriate to pause our practical prayers. Sometime we should be singing or laughing or just thinking. “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms” (James 5:13 NKJV). Life contains calm times and wildly joyful moments as well as day-to-day drudgery. Thoughts are for the quiet days. Songs are for the joy-filled days. Practical prayers, in all their glorious simplicity, are for the grinding days.

I think that the reason we end up praying constantly is because there are many more grinding days then there are quiet hours or moments of celebration. It’s like comparing sand to seashells. The beach of life contains many beautiful shells, but mostly, it’s just plain sand. Ask for God’s help when there is need of it. There is no other guideline for practical praying. No one can say that to pray constantly, you have to pray “every five minutes” or some other similar rule. I know I need God when I’m tempted to go back to bed, avoid work, or complain (which is constantly). It’s the little things that are the hardest, not the big things. The beauty is that practical prayer makes all the little things possible, if we learn how to pray at the right time.

It’s not enough to wake up on Sunday morning, fold your hands, and put in your spiritual orders. Suppose someone went to church and requested patience from God. They have just uttered the kind of prayer that deals with the future. The trick is to also pray on Tuesday night after their sick sibling pukes on their bed when they washed the sheets just that morning. Patience is a different story then, isn’t it?

If you felt like being kind and patient in stressful times, there wouldn’t be a problem. Ask God to help you do the right thing when you feel like you can’t do the right thing. Yes, it’s hard, but if you don’t pray for patience while you need it, don’t blame God when you don’t get it.

Imagine there was a little girl who loved the wind and the sky. She would go out to fly her kite even if there was only a hint of a breeze. At the beginning of the windy season, she asked her dad if he would come to her aid if the kite got tangled or caught. Of course, her father said he would be ready to assist her at any time. Well, a day came when the wind was strong and the frail kite was tossed into a tree. The girl could climb well, and she was soon up in the maple’s branches. The girl almost reached the kite. She came close to grasping it, but her farthest reach fell short. She gave up and waited while the fluttering kite was shredded on the branches. Then she climbed down, disappointed. The girl ran to her father and cried, “Daddy, why didn’t you come when I needed your help?” Daddy answers, “Daughter, you didn’t call for me when you needed me. If you had just called my name, I would have come running.”

Our heavenly Father might say something similar to us. After all, He always comes when we call His name. He knows we need help, but He wants us to ask, and it’s our fault if we don’t.

Picture spiritual battles as a big game of tug-o-war. Satan is on one end of the rope. He’s had thousands of years to exercise. You are holding on to the other end. If you try to fight by yourself, you’re going to lose. If you ask God to fight for you, He will bring victory by a landslide. It’s kind of like a wimp asking a professional body builder for help.

With prayer, entire armies have been defeated.  Although we don’t charge into holy wars with spears and chariots anymore, we are still in a spiritual war. Prayer is the most powerful weapon God has given his people.

Practical prayers are the weapons that Satan doesn’t want you to use. Without it we will fail every challenge that comes along, and with it we will change the world. Prayer  has long been likened to a weapon. What is a weapon, but warrior’s tool? All Christians are soldiers. Don’t go to work without your tool. Friends, I urge you to pray—without ceasing.