Ceaseless prayer

The New Testament speaks about being able to pray without ceasing. Have you ever tried to accomplish this? It’s not so easy with just the understanding, but there is a way to come really close to constant prayer, and it’s so simple and effective that you’re going to love it.

Many times Christians have read the scripture where the Apostle Paul admonishes the Church to pray without ceasing. Endless prayer. What a brilliant concept.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The koiné Greek word used here is adialeiptōs, which means, ‘without intermission, incessantly, without ceasing.’ Non-stop prayer and intercession. Never ending supplications. It’s more than not giving up on prayer. It is constancy in prayer. And it’s the will of God.

Prayer that impacts

If we can get the whole Body of Christ to come close to this while we are still in the earth, those prayers will have maximum impact on the spiritual realm, which, in turn, will radically change what takes place in the natural world. Prayer brings about much change (James 5:16-18).

Prayer is like incense to the Throne of God (Rev.5:8). The prayers of the saints go up to Him as a sweet smelling savour. Our prayers mean much to Him, and much to the world, because they impact both heaven and earth.

Let my prayer be set before You as incense,
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Psalm 141:2

Continuous prayer is a blessed thing, but have you ever attempted this? Have you ever set out to pray without stopping? Once we’ve prayed around the world, we usually run out of things to say after a few minutes, or, if we persist, a few hours of trying our best to pray without ceasing. It’s very difficult.

More than one way to pray

However, Paul gives us a clue when he talks about praying with the understanding and praying with the spirit, meaning the regenerated spirit of the person of God, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit who gives the utterance.

I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.

1 Corinthians 14:15b

What is Paul talking about, here? Praying with the understanding is praying in a known language, our native tongue. Praying with the spirit is praying in tongues.

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then?

1 Corinthians 14:14

Well, the conclusion is that we pray with the understanding and we pray with the spirit. Two ways to pray. Two Biblically viable options.

When we pray with the understanding we know what we are saying, but when we pray with the Spirit we don’t know, yet we are still praying. The thing is that God knows what we are saying because He is the Author of praying in tongues by the Holy Spirit.

For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

1 Corinthians 14:2

So praying in tongues can never be a bad thing. We are speaking to God, being edified, and He is revealing mysteries through us, which, of course, He not only knows, but has prayed through us. By the Holy Spirit He is taking hold together with us to pray.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27

There’s a wonderful koiné Greek word here, synantilambanomai, which literally means ‘to take hold of something together with another.’ He’s in there with us in prayer, in intercession, with utterances we don’t understand, but which are effective when we join in together with Him. He brings us into a higher level of prayer with the spirit, in the Spirit.

We can also ask for an interpretation when we pray with the spirit (1Cor.14:13). Mostly, we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to pray through us. This can only ever be a good thing.

Can it be done?

We have to think that it is possible pray without ceasing, otherwise, Paul would not give us the instruction by the Holy Spirit to pray without ceasing.

We know that it’s very difficult to constantly pray just with the understanding. We run out of ideas, eventually, we run out of words, and we’re having to think about what we’re praying all the time, which takes great concentration. Prayer should be focused and not flippant.

Praying in tongues, however, is praying by the leading of the Holy Spirit who gives the utterance through our spirit. We can pray with the spirit without the understanding. We are still praying, but He is praying through us.

Of course, it is not possible, or even practical to always be praying every moment of our waking day. There are times when we have to speak to other people. Unless we are living a monastic life we will need to say words to those around us at some juncture.

I think Paul is taking this into account when he requests that we pray without ceasing, but he also admonishes us to be in a constant state of prayer, intercession, supplication, thanksgiving or praise to the Lord.

However, we can train our spirit to be praying at all times when we are not engaging directly with others. It is such an excellent way of being ready at all times to be used of the Lord to help in certain situations, plus, of course, it keeps us focused on holiness and is a check to potential waywardness of the flesh.

Vocality

There is a discussion in the Church about whether we can pray silently or not. We won’t go into it here in depth, but most of prayer would be spoken making a vocal sound, even if it is almost under our breath, as with Samuel’s mother, Hannah (1 Sam.1:13). She prayed with her heart, and only her lips moved.

Our heart is the place of the reborn spirit. We can pray with the heart. I still believe we need to make an utterance, because praying in tongues is by the utterance of the Spirit. See how it is described on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit first fell on believers.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:4

So utterance is involved, but the volume is determined by the speaker. God hears, whether we are loud or quiet in prayer, ad there are occasions when we need to wait on the Lord as part of prayer.

A goal to set then is that when we are not speaking with others we can be praying, singing with both the understanding and with the spirit. Our connection with heaven is complete, and we are affecting those around us in a positive and productive way.

Coming soon: how we can begin to pray with the spirit.