Pray without ceasing… —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on
our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as
the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our
breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it
never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect
oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an
exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the
offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing…”— maintain the childlike habit of
offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited
certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the
Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do
we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus
said, “…everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8).
Yet we say, “But…, but….” God answers prayer in the best way— not just
sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we
want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said
to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were
only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus
taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
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