05/26/2025
Are we praying continuously and without ceasing? How can we possibly do this with all of the happenings in our lives every day? Yet this is precisely what Jesus is telling us to do and he never asks us to do anything we are incapable of. If we are of the right mind spiritually and are living our lives within the will of God, then we will find that every event we experience in our lives will be performed with Him in our minds. Prayer is communication with Jesus and God, and, in a life which is founded on our faith, this conversation is flowing at all times and in everything we do, say, or think. If our faith is as it should be, we will find that we can't possibly separate ourselves from prayer.
“pray without ceasing,”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV
There are children who threaten their parents to get what they want. For example, some will hold their breath until they faint. These children will turn blue and pass out, but once they do their body resumes breathing normally and they eventually reawaken. If you ignore such behavior the child will invariably see the futility in it because breathing is a natural survival reflex for our bodies. Prayer is likewise the natural spiritual state of our faith. Pastor Oswald Chambers realized this when he wrote these words...
"If we think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts, we think rightly. The blood flows ceaselessly, and breathing continues ceaselessly; we are not conscious of it, but it is always going on. We are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect joint with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is life." - Oswald Chambers
Breath is life, and prayer is life. In breathing we inhale and exhale air. In prayer we speak and are spoken to. We ask, and then we receive from God, and in our next exhale we give thanks... and then the process begins again. It is as simple as that, and it goes on all day and night in a faithful person… and if the truth be known, in many who don’t realize they believe.
“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV
We can hold our breath and refuse to speak to God, but there will always come a day when we can’t hold back any longer and we will pass out or expire. On that day our prayers will begin again and what we had refused to inhale will return, and it might be unpleasant to us. It may be a happening in our lives which draws us back to Him and our breath may contain a conviction and a plea for forgiveness, or it might be at the moment of our denial and death… and our inhale will be His judgement against us. Don't be a threatening child...
“Do not quench the Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV
Fighting faith is as futile as fighting against our own lives. Learning to live with our flesh and blood selves is much easier than trying to stop breathing or living out our days with constant depression and dissatisfaction. In our spiritual lives we might find ourselves struggling too but it is easier, and more natural, to worship God and breathe in and out in prayer as we abide in His will for us. Trying to disavow truth is fruitless, because it must always be... it is breath to an unconscious mind, and prayer to an uncertain spirit.
So, to the faithful there is no escape from praying without ceasing. We do it all the time and the closer to God that we get, the more regular our breathing becomes, and the more we come to realize that we have been doing it all along… we have been breathing in “Yah” and exhaling “weh” as regular as we take each breath.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the ins and outs of my breath and the back and forth of my prayers. Thank you for the conversation we have all day long and in everything we do together. Holy Father, I especially thank you for times like this one in which our conversation is conscious and our words are spoken aloud. Lord, I love knowing that even when I sleep you are there and our prayers continue, and I take comfort in knowing that as I go about my daily rhythm of life and faith I am constantly gauging my actions by what you would have me do. This is the way I live my life, and walk with you in unceasing prayer, and it isn't just what I do... it is who I am. Father, I am your child; I am in Jesus and He in you. To deny your presence in me is to deny myself, just as denying that my next breath gives true witness to the fact that my physical body lives. Lord, you are my prayer, my breath, my life, my belief, and my faith in your eternal truth. In each of these I worship you and praise your Holy Name… one breath at a time, and with each word of every prayer spoken between us… whether it is spoken aloud, whispered, or passes quietly between our spirits. May my life in breath and prayer bear witness to your glory and honor you always, and every Hallelujah and Amen be shared with the world, and all your children everywhere.
Hallelujah! Amen!
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Brothers, pray for us.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17-25 ESV
Rich Forbes