Pray Without Ceasing

Have you ever wondered what is the best time to pray? Or did you even know that there is a best time to pray? There is! The best time to pray is NOW. When Paul was writing to the Thessalonians he said, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18)

This idea of praying without ceasing means that we can talk to God all day, every day. We can talk directly to Him in a conversational way. We can talk to Him in song. We can talk to Him in our thoughts. We can talk to Him out loud. We can even be talking to someone else and if we keep God over and through our words, we are praying. We are building our relationship with Him. Prayer keeps us considering God all day long when we follow Paul’s instruction to “pray without ceasing.”

Recently, I was sitting at the dinner table with my kids waiting for my husband to get home from work. We thought he’d be home by now and as we wondered if we should start eating without him, the phone rang. I heard my husband’s shaky voice on the other end of the line, “I’ll be late, I just got pulled over for speeding.” “It’s ok,” I said trying to reassure him, “I’ll pray the officer has grace.” Often, that’s how we respond to such situations. We say we’ll pray.

Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we think just saying “I’ll pray” feels like enough and that God heard our hearts. Sometimes that’s true! Then there’s times that God tugs at our hearts to follow-through in a bigger way. On this particular day, I hung up the phone, looked at my kids and felt the Holy Spirit speak through me. “Dad got pulled over for speeding. Can we pray for him?” My kids looked at me with big eyes and big nods. We closed our eyes and prayed that God would work in His supernatural ways and allow the officer to be full of grace. As soon as I said Amen, I got another ring. On the other end of the line, my husband said, “He was super nice and gave me a warning, I’ll be home in 5 minutes.”

A speeding ticket isn’t that big of a deal, but it can put a damper on your day. Not every prayer ends with the answer we are hoping. But getting in the habit of stopping and praying in the moment, a habit of praying without ceasing, will allow us to be a part of what He’s doing, show us more of His heart, and guide us in learning His character. May we all remember that the best time to pray is now, and that having a posture of prayer is keeping God at the center all day!

Written by A. Flood (RPC Creative Team)