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  • Bob Heizman February 19, 2010 14:41
    This is a great topic. I believe this can either mean don't give up praying or it can mean keep praying no matter where you are and what you are doing. If you are working and are about to go into a meeting, pray. If you are a salesman and are about to make a sales call, pray. If you are a teacher, pray before you enter the classroom. If you are a police officer, pray before you answer a call for help. If you are in retail sales, pray before you go out on the floor. Pray before answering the phone. Pray before getting in your car. Pray, pray, pray!
  • Joyce February 20, 2010 14:59
    When I read this topic, I immediately thought of the beautiful old Keith Green song (wow, did Keith have a powerful ministry or what?): ''Make my life a Prayer for You".

    In every action, every thought, he longed for his life to be a prayer to God, making "praying without ceasing" attainable for all of us. Keith speaks about taking his eyes off himself and keeping them focused on God.

    The lyrics are:

    Make my life a prayer to You
    I want to do what you want me to
    No empty words and no white lies
    No token prayers, no compromise.

    I want to shine the light you gave
    Through Your Son you sent to save us
    From ourselves and our despair
    It comforts me to know you're really there.

    Oh, I want to thank you now, for being patient with me,
    Oh, it's so hard to see when my eyes are on me,
    I guess I'll have to trust and just believe what you say,
    Oh, you're coming again, coming to take me away.

    I want to die, and let you give
    Your life to me so I might live
    And share the hope you gave to me
    The love that set me free,

    I want to tell the world out there
    You're not some fable or fairy tale
    That I made up inside my head
    You're God, The Son, you've risen from the dead.

    Oh, I want to thank you now
    For being patient with me
    Oh, it's so hard to see,
    When my eyes are on me.

    I guess I'll have to trust
    and just believe what you say
    Oh, you're coming again
    Coming to take me away.

    I want to die and let you give,
    Your life to me so I might give
    And share the hope you gave to me
    I want to share the love that set me free.
  • Mike Pearson February 21, 2010 14:01
    In the classic book "Practicing the Presence of God", Brother Lawrence describes his journey to being "constantly, consciously aware of the presence of God." This is a first step to praying constantly. You cannot pray to God without being aware of his presence. Frank Laubach added his experience in this journey in a more modern edition. They both stated that this is a very long term effort.
  • Reimagine Curator February 21, 2010 16:02
    No better place to start than Brother Lawrence!

    (hope the snow is melting in Cedar Rapids!)
  • Cathy Peek February 22, 2010 1:54
    When we pray, we are passionate about the things we carry in our heart that concern us. The more we begin the carry these things to our Mighty God, the more urgent and compelling things become in our spirit. Prayer changes us, because the more we are in His presence the more we desire to be in His presence....our Faith becomes stronger and our yearning for God to move in each situation. It is unimaginable to some but...Before you know it the attitude of your heart is continually in the spirit of prayer no matter what we are physically doing... to just live, breathe and cry out to God is natural.
  • C.J. Keef February 22, 2010 22:23
    I like taking a topic of prayer each day. I got tired of saying "Yes, I'll pray for you" and a week would slip by, and I completely forget until I see the person again. So here's what i try to do (not that I have 'attained' this by any means!):
    Monday:Encouragement
    Tue: Sickness and grief
    Wed: The body of CHrist
    Thur: Missions and world situations
    Friday: Family life and families in crisis
    I start the day with a specific, scriptural prayer for each day. Then, I review the list for that day.
    This way, if I find myself with some mental time: Driving, laundry, lunch time etc.. I reflect to the 'topic' of this day and start praying through my list for each of those days. It also helps me to keep track of my mental / thought life. I can't say this works like clockwork, but who wants prayer to work like that? The best times in prayer are when God taps ME on the shoulder with an observation, or a co-worker's comment, or...or..or..At any rate that's been a helpful tool for me...
    • RJ / HereToEncourage > C.J. Keef June 9, 2010 17:22
      To C.J. Keef -- I'm so glad you shared this. I've not heard of this, and I was looking for a new system to try.
  • Edith Eutsler February 25, 2010 11:27
    Pray without ceasing.. our life we live is a prayer also....When we have Jesus Christ living within our hearts, the Holy Spirit praying within us and for us wih groanings that cannot be uttered...If Christ is working through us and surely He is our righteousness, not of us, we have none.. Before Jesus died and before God sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper, prayers were mostly rituals and commandments.. Jesus gave us a new commandment, Love the Lord thy God................and thy neighbor as thyself.... Can you imagine the prayer going on between us, Jesus and the Holy Spirit without ceasing??? Praise the name of the LORD!!!!

    Bob Heizman said:
    This is a great topic. I believe this can either mean don't give up praying or it can mean keep praying no matter where you are and what you are doing. If you are working and are about to go into a meeting, pray. If you are a salesman and are about to make a sales call, pray. If you are a teacher, pray before you enter the classroom. If you are a police officer, pray before you answer a call for help. If you are in retail sales, pray before you go out on the floor. Pray before answering the phone. Pray before getting in your car. Pray, pray, pray!
  • John Burton March 2, 2010 15:23
    Praying 'intellectually' without ceasing can't be done. If we are 'petition driven', or logically focused, we can get worn out very quickly. Spiritual things are discerned spiritually.

    So, if we walk in the Spirit and live in the Spirit and lean not on our own understanding, we'll hear God, we'll discern what's pressing moment by moment. The radar will continually be on and we will be able to respond immediately 24/7.

    It's common for many to wake up often in the night as God impresses them to intercede.. if we can pray in our sleep, we can certainly pray without ceasing as we go through our day.
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