Title: Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Contents
pray
1 Thessalonians 5:17
pray without ceasing
One of the most important things in our life of faith is prayer. In today's text, it says, "Pray without ceasing." There are many things in this land that need to be stopped. For example, bad thoughts and bad habits, violations of God's commandments, things about unbelief, things about darkness, etc. The sooner you stop, the better. However, there are some things that must not be stopped. It is breathing. Not breathing means death. Just as the human body exists by breathing, we believe that prayer is the most precious thing in our spiritual life.
The prophet Samuel said ceasing prayer is a sin. “I have never sinned before the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23). He considered it a great sin to stop praying. We should never stop praying, no matter what. So what does it mean to “pray without ceasing”?
The first is to continue a constant conversation with God. Exodus 33:11 says, “The Lord speaks face to face with Moses, as a man speaks to his friend.” Prayer is a spiritual conversation with God. No matter how close a person is, if the conversation is interrupted, they will be separated from their hearts and from their affections. We always exchange understanding in conversation and we can share feelings with each other.
The same is true of spiritual life. Without prayer, the life of faith cannot grow. When a person dies, he gives up his own life. To stop praying is to commit suicide. Therefore, we must always pray without ceasing. We must continue to pray to God without giving up in any circumstance or situation.
Jacob was able to intercept Esau's blessing from his father Isaac because he was with his mother, Rebekah, and talked to him often. It is the same with how we receive God's love. Please believe that you will receive God's love when you continue to have spiritual conversations with God through your prayer life.
In 1 Chronicles 10:13 we find the record of Saul's death. Saul was recognized by God and became king, but the reason he lost his life decisively was because he did not communicate with God and asked to teach to a person who was new to him, that is, a man possessed by a demon. When we pray, we must clearly know the object of our prayer and pray. Not a foreign god, but the living God who created us...