In Prayer Continuously

Pray continually.
-1 Thess. 5:17 (NIV/CEB)

When you keep praying for something that has not happened, your soul or flesh does not like it.  We want microwave prayers.  But our spirit is alright with praying and not seeing tangible answers.

God is faithful and true.  

God is a covenant God.  God can do things on his own, but he chooses to partner with people, to get things done on earth.  If people choose not to partner with God, then some things that God wants simply will not happen (Ezek. 22:23).

Do you know what Jesus is doing and has been doing, since he ascended to heaven?  He is interceding (Heb. 7:25).  Have you ever wondered what he is praying about for you?  We need to get in with what Jesus is already praying for us.

Praying continually means abiding in Christ (John 15:7).  What are his words and what are his prayers in this situation?  What we want is to be abiding in Christ, in union with him, so that we are the will of God.  Christ's words, through us.

The Christian by definition, is an intercessor.  You, who are in Christ, are the go-between, from God's power, to a broken world.

It is a deception to believe that intercession is only for the few.  I am convinced that it is a, "many are called but few are chosen", type of thing, where we are all called to prayer, but only a few take up the calling and run with it.

Those of us who do not pray much are not loved less by God, but we are selling our selves short and are missing out.  Praying is part of being a Christ-follower, part of discipleship.  Being a praying person is the Jesus way.

Prayer is words.  Prayer is also an attitude or focus, that is in our thoughts, minds, or hearts.  Prayers are requests and calls for help.  Prayer is also conversation with God.  Prayer is taking everything to God.

If you only pray when in crisis, then praying continually is something to grow into.  You can do it, because if you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit, who will teach you.  Pray, "Lord, teach me to pray."

Persevering prayer that never gives up, is a good thing, but what if we get closer and closer to God, until we are in his arms?  If we relate to God as loving Father, then our prayer life will reflect this.

When we are dealt a challenging situation, we will immediately cast our cares on him or draw life from him.  When tempted to react, we will instead pray.  We are training our selves to be in an attitude of prayer.  When the thing happens, we are already being prayerful.  That's the Jesus life that we want to live.

It is hard to find a Bible verse about unanswered prayer.  Jesus taught that all prayer is answered (Matt. 7:8, Luke 11:10).  God's answers are often different that what we expect, but are better.  We might be getting answers that we don't expect, because we are not in union with Christ.

When we pray, we are feeding the life of God in us.  Bringing everything to the Lord in prayer, is the way of opening the door to God, of our lives.

When we pray continuously, we are continually being transformed into Christlikeness.  God wants us to partner with him, to bring his rule and reign into the earth.  When we do this, we get to have God's heart for a situation or persons, while he makes us more like Jesus Christ; and that is pretty much the goal of the Christian life.