Pray Without Ceasing...

PRAYER

Last night I was typing the web address for this site, but forgot to add blogspot.com so it looked like: pray-without-ceasing.com. I must say that the sites that I found on the search engine were quite interesting. I found a site on C. H. Spurgeon. To my amazement I found that he had preached a sermon in 1872 with the topic of "Pray Without Ceasing" using 1 Thessalonians 5:17 as his text. ("Pray without ceasing."—1 Thessalonians 5:17). Since this blog address is focused on 1 Thessalonians 5:17 I read through the sermon with great interest to see what he had to say on the topic of prayer without ceasing.

I believe that prayer is essential in all our lives. To become a strong Christian one must pray. To grow deeper in love with the Lord we must talk with Him and allow Him to speak to us. We must pray and seek His direction in all things.

Here are some notes I took from the sermon.

-The posture of prayer is of no great importance, for if it were necessary that we should pray on our knees we could not pray without ceasing, the posture would become painful and injurious. To what end has our Creator given us feet, if he desires us never to stand upon them? If he had meant us to be on our knees without ceasing, he would have fashioned the body differently, and would not have endowed us with such unnecessary length of limb.

- Praying on one's knees expresses humility, but that is not to say that you cannot pray while flat upon your face, pray while sitting, pray while standing, etc.

- "Pray without ceasing." It would be impossible for us to pray aloud constantly.
There would of course be no opportunity for preaching and hearing, for the exchange of friendly intercourse, for business, or for any other of the duties of life; while the din of so many voices would remind our neighbors rather of the worship of Baal than that of Zion.

-God did not design our throats, lungs, and tongues should be for ever at work.

-Audible language is not essential to prayer. We may speak a thousand words which seem to be prayer, and yet never pray; on the other hand, we may cry into God's ear most effectually, and yet never say a word.

-The place where you pray is not essential to prayer. If there were only certain holy places where prayer was acceptable, and we had to pray without ceasing, our churches ought to be extremely large, that we might always live in them, and they would have to comprise all the arrangements necessary for human habitations.

- If I am to pray without ceasing, then every second must be suitable for prayer, and there is not one unholy moment in the hour, nor one unaccepted hour in the day, nor one unhallowed day in the year. The Lord has not appointed a certain week for prayer, but all weeks should be weeks of prayer: neither has he said that one hour of the day is more acceptable than another.
Therefore I can pray while driving, while in the shower, while lying awake in the middle of the night, doing housework, while mowing the lawn, etc.

-It is good to set aside a certain time of the day to pray.

- Pray without ceasing means that you may pray without ceasing. There is no time when we may not pray. You have here permission given to come to the mercy-seat when you will, for the veil of the Most Holy place is rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and our access to the mercy-seat is undisputed and indisputable.

- Never abandon prayer!
"Never abandon prayer. Never for any cause or reason cease to pray. Imagine not that you must pray until you are saved, and may then leave off. For those whose sins are pardoned prayer is quite as needful as for those mourning under a sense of sin. "Pray without ceasing," for in order that you may persevere in grace you must persevere in prayer. Should you become experienced in grace and enriched with much spiritual knowledge, you must not dream of restraining prayer because of your gifts and graces. "Pray without ceasing," or else your flower will fade and your spiritual fruit will never ripen. Continue in prayer until the-last moment of your life.

"Long as they live must Christians pray,For only while they pray they live."

- Never give up praying!
Do not abandon the mercy-seat for any reason whatever. If it be a good thing that you have been asking for, and you are sure it is according to the divine will, if the vision tarry wait for it, pray, weep, entreat, wrestle, agonise till you get that which you are praying for.

- Loving is praying.

-Prayer is hard work. Satan tries to distract and discourage us in our prayer life.

- Spurgeon, believe that no man loves prayer until the Holy Spirit has taught him the sweetness and value of it. If you have ever prayed without ceasing you will pray without ceasing.

-Let us pray without ceasing; carry our swords in hand, wave that mighty weapon of all-prayer of which Bunyan speaks. Never sheathe it; it will cut through coats of mail. You need fear no foe if you can but pray. As you are tempted without ceasing, so pray without ceasing.

I hope that as you read these few notes that you were encouraged as much as I was. Praying is a spiritual battle as the devil trys all that it is in his power to keep us from talking with our Lord.