A disciplined calmness seemed to permeate the man.”
–Henry McLaughlin (Journey to Riverbend)
“Pray without ceasing.”
–1 Thessalonians 5:17
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There have been some great books regarding prayer. E.M. Bounds and Andrew Murray come quickly to mind. I think of the prayers of George Muller and of John Hyde who was known as “Praying Hyde.” James, the apostle and half-brother of Jesus, and author of the Book of James was nicknamed “Old Camel Knees” because of the calluses he developed while kneeling in prayer. Prayer is vital to the Christian, and we are told by Paul to “pray without ceasing.” In other words, be in constant communication with God.
I used to, and to some extent still do, get frustrated with prayer. I wanted to pray like Muller or Bounds. When I read Murray, I become amazed at his prayer life, but when I tried to follow their pattern and example I would become more frustrated, and prayer is not to frustrate us but to bring us peace, and most importantly to know the Lord in a more complete way. I came upon a book by Rosalind Rinker that helped me greatly, “Conversational Prayer.” I won’t go into detail, but the concept is that we should pray to God just the way we talk with a friend. Of course, there is time for formal prayers, but they can be quite inspiring.
Today, I am borrowing almost completely from a little booklet handed out in the church where we attend. It caught my attention and in this troublesome world, we need to be more in prayer. If never before we should be praying without ceasing. The author of the following is Del Rogers.
“The Bible urges us to ‘Pray without ceasing.’ But how do we do that? Well, we can start by giving God our waking thoughts, our waiting thoughts, our worrying thoughts, and our waning thoughts.
What if you learned to pray without ceasing? What alterations would unceasing prayer have on your stress levels? Your mood swings? Your temper? Would you sleep better? God never sleeps. Since God doesn’t need to sleep, there’s no sense in both of your staying awake, right?
Rather, you can use your final thoughts to praise God for another day, tell Him what you need, thank Him for all He’s done, and leave tomorrow in His hands.
We are an anxiety plagued people, aren’t we? We worry about how we’re going to pay the bills this month. We worry about relationships–maybe your marriage is struggling, or your kids are straying. We worry about work. We worry about our health. We worry about fitting in, about being good enough, smart enough, thin enough, pretty enough!
Imagine never worrying about anything! Paul’s advice is to turn our worries into prayers in Philippians 4:6. Whenever you start to worry, stop and pray.
Please understand that prayer isn’t just another thing to do; rather, prayer is what empowers us to do all the things we have to do. I believe the best solution is to just start praying. The more you pray, the better ‘pray-er’ you will become.”
In other words, pray all the time. People clamor, and I use that word purposely, that they want fellowship with God. However, fellowship is not hopping up and down at the front of the church. Fellowship comes from knowing a person, and in this case–God. Pray all the time, but in your special times of prayer at home make sure you have your Bible when you pray. Read a few verses, pray over and about them, and let God speak to you.