Editor’s Note: This week I welcome guest blogger, Debbie Marks. Debbie has a degree in social work, served for 30+ in pastoral ministry alongside her husband, is an educator, leads Bible studies, and has been a retreat speaker. I’m excited for her teaching this week.
The second habit that Paul addresses in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 is in verse 17, “pray continually.”
Continually? Really? Does Paul even know how busy my life is? I barely have enough time to breathe. How is this possible?
This exhortation does not mean that we never sleep, never concentrate on our families, never work, never have fun, and instead just pray all the time. So what is Paul talking about? What does it mean to pray continually?
The word “continually” is hyperbole. Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement used for emphasis or effect. Paul is saying that prayer is not limited to prescribed hours of the day or week or to a certain place, but rather prayer should be a common and constant element of the believer’s daily life.
So what does this continual prayer look like?
Continual prayer is consciously leaving open the door of communication with God in our daily lives.
Continual prayer is a day lived in a long run-on sentence that’s built on a line and phrase at a time.
Continual prayer is hearing God speak through His word and responding right back to Him.
Continual prayer is an open dialogue with our Father-Friend.
In practice, I see this continual prayer as not putting an amen on the end of our prayer until we close our eyes to sleep at night. Then we begin this conversation again when we awake the next day.
I encourage you, as I encourage myself, to look at the practice of prayer in a new way.
Photo by Jack Sharp on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 