Pray Continually

by: Pastor Jose V. Velasco, Jr.

      Our topic is an advice from Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV). He uses the word continually, not continuously. Continuously would mean ongoing praying without any break. Continually would be a regular practice done from time to time.  Most Christians believe in prayer. What is prayer? It is an act of communicating with God. It is His gift to us because God devised and gave it to us as our means of talking and relating with Him. Jesus taught and practiced it. And so did Paul.

      Jesus said that before we pray God already knows our requests and needs (Mt. 6:8). If so, why then do we still need to pray? We pray for at least three reasons. One is we pray to express  our faith in Him. We pray because we believe that God is the source of all our needs. We work only as a means of procuring these blessings He gives us. Prayer is a humble acknowledgement of our dependence on God. And we believe that God is a loving Father who delights in granting our prayers. Two is we pray to express our thanksgiving for His generosity to us. This is what one of the ten healed lepers did and Jesus was pleased (Lk. 17:15-19). We pray, not only to ask for our needs, but to thank God for providing them to us. Three, we just want to be close to the Lord with nothing particular to request. When I was a young boy I would often overhear my grandmother sigh, “Lord, be with us. We commit our everything to you” in a casual way. And this would give her a sense of the peace-giving closeness of God.

      To pray continually as Paul advises improves praying. In a church I worked in the Philippines several years ago, we scheduled a prayer meeting for adults and young people every 5 AM on Saturdays. We separated the youths from the adults so they would not feel overwhelmed by the presence of the adults. I joined the youths as a support and guide. We sat in a circle and each one had to pray even just a brief prayer. I noticed that generally each one would just practically repeat the prayer of the preceding person. The reason was because they could not think much to pray for in their minds. But over time their prayers expanded. They prayed for their parents, their studies, their teachers in school, world peace, the sick, etc. They were growing in the scope of their prayers. Practice makes perfect even in praying.

      As the telephone connects us to people far from us, prayer connects us to God. We are happy when we can talk with our far loved ones on the phone. Prayer also brings us peace, strength, guidance, and a sense of security. Make prayer an important and regular part of your life.

Prayer: 

Lord, we want to be close to you in prayer. Forgive us that often we are too busy to pray. May you teach us to pray. Thank you for your answering our prayers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.