To Pray Without Ceasing

I'm getting to the place where ANYTHING that distracts me from God's plan for me is probably not good. Like, okay, so God created us. Jesus is our King and our soon-to-be husband. He comes on a white horse, robes dripping in blood, etc (it's true, read Revelation), and whether
that is literal or figurative, it's still INTENSE. The Bible describes Him as being jealous for us, that means jealous for our love and our attention and our lives. And He deserves it! Everything that we have to give, and much more, He deserves, because He is the only one good and the only one who is faithful and the only one worthy of anything. So, I’ve come up with some steps to help me accomplish my goal, to be obedient in God’s desire for me to be abandoned to Him.

Our lives are NOT our lives. We raise our children for God, we love our spouses for God’s sake and because He allows us to; everything we do we do unto God for God’s sake. Or at least we should.

So, Step 1 is: Realize that your life is not your own.

The Bible says to pray without ceasing. Now, I'm not at that place yet (I say yet by faith that I will be at some point), but I do know that I can pray while working, while doing house work, while taking care of my kids...there is very little I can't pray during EXCEPT watching tv and movies. I don't know why, but my brain shuts down and nothing comes out or comes to mind. THAT is the biggest indication to me that I shouldn't watch it much, regardless of what the show is.

Step 2 is: Limit “innocent entertainments,” as much as possible with whatever grace God gives you to do so.

God wants to be loved and needed by us. The children of Israel were given Ten Commandments to follow. What they should have done was fall on their knees, broken, and beg God’s mercy and tell Him that it was impossible and that they needed Him. What they did was say, “oh, totally, sure, we can do that,” and they failed over and over again. Only in their desperation did they turn back to God. So, when God says, “pray without ceasing,” I know it’s impossible, I can’t do it. So, instead of ignoring that verse or making light of it, I fall on my knees and beg mercy and grace, and His help! We do not receive because we do not ask...so ask God for this Godly gift, to dwell in His presence!

Step 3 is: Ask God for the ABILITY to pray without ceasing.

There is a great book called “Practice of the Presence of God,” by Brother Lawrence that addresses this issue. It’s a good read, and a VERY short one, and is available for free online. It talks about the practicality of dwelling with God all the time, of praying without ceasing, and in a much better way than I can. Really, though, just practice. Pray, and when you realize that your mind drifted away three hours ago, repent and start up again. Soon you will find you are dwelling more communally with God more often and with less distraction. You will still accomplish your day-to-day tasks, but with the mind of Christ, which we are supposed to have anyway, right?

Step 4 is: Practice praying without ceasing.

Yes, this all does seem impossible, in fact, it IS impossible in and of ourselves. But God told us to, so we should do it anyway! Often, we read something in the Bible and think to ourselves, “oh, that’s not for me, that’s for pastors or church leadership,” or “that must be written for people who just lived in Jesus’ time,” but if the Bible directs us to do something, we should give ourselves to that thing.

What we feel is important is usually NOT important, not compared to what God’s plan is for us. We work, shop, save, eat, watch tv, sleep...and in a few decades we are dead with nothing to show for all of that. That’s why the Bible says to store up riches in Heaven...not that we should all quit our jobs and be pastors, that would be very impractical, but to live our lives as unto Him, to work as unto the Lord, to partner with Him to accomplish His purposes, and we accomplish that by dwelling with Him in our day to day lives.