Pray without ceasing?

[r035198x]

What does "pray without ceasing" mean to you?

Just heard a challenging sermon about this passage and wanted to find out what others think about this.

 

[trentlogain2]

an attitude of prayer. i don't think it necessarily means to have audible conversation with God all the time though it can include that. more or less i believe it means keeping your heart in a meditation and communion with Him.

 

[Touma]

an attitude of prayer. i don't think it necessarily means to have audible conversation with God all the time though it can include that. more or less i believe it means keeping your heart in a meditation and communion with Him.

I agree with this.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

To me it means to always be in an attitude of readiness to pray. For whatever circumstances you encounter in the day, OK Lord, what do you want me to do here? I don't mean like should I get a coffee or a tea or things like that cuz we are thinking human beings and we can make those choices without help most of the time. I mean when something happens that you do need God's help to cry out to Him first. Or when someone else has an issue, you can pray to God over it, and also praying thru out the day as needed, so to speak.

 

[Toro]

IMO it means pray, with purpose and continue praying (not 24/7) at times to show how dedicated you are to said prayer and it isn't just a passing fancy prayer.

Prayer that is unrelenting, not backing down (not in an arrogant prideful manner, but a prayer of conviction).

 

[anewday]

Never stop praying to God . I've been praying the same thing for years and don't plan on stopping, so....yeah and what everyone else has said .

 

[white dove]

What does "pray without ceasing" mean to you?

Just heard a challenging sermon about this passage and wanted to find out what others think about this.

Can you post a bit on what you learned?

 

[Nanopants]

I think it means that God can become so much a part of our lives that the entirety of life is like prayer.

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. -Acts 17:28

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. -1 Jhn 4:9

 

[Going Merry]

What does "pray without ceasing" mean to you?

Just heard a challenging sermon about this passage and wanted to find out what others think about this.

pray all day

 

[Johnnz]

Since Jesus is with us all day we can readily relate events around us back to him - praise for something nice, thanksgiving for an unexpected delight, concern for a person we see while shopping, asking questions. Life and prayer become interwoven.

John
NZ

 

[Theodore1]

If we let our fleshly desires unchecked, there is no knowing what the body will desire next. "The spirit is willing, but the body is weak". In the sense that the body keeps on desiring bodily things, mostly related to satisfaction. So, if we are to be the masters of our desires, and not let our desires to be the masters of our selves, we need God's grace. So, in praying continuously we continuously invite God's grace into our life, so that it may shield us from our fleshly desires and that so we may pursue spiritual goals. Pray continuously means that we should always pray within our minds. Have a small prayer hovering in your mind as much as possible. Like "My Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner", thus continuously acknowledging our sinful nature and continuously inviting God's grace to shield our weaknesses, and also acknowledging Jesus Christ as our Lord. Without God's grace, keeping bodily desires in check is simply Impossible, and those who try without God's grace to keep their bodily desires in check, will inevitably fail. "Without me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5)

 

[SuperBeaver]

Hi Theodore

I've read that a lot of more fundamentalist protestant Christians think of the Jesus prayer as similar to mediation and somehow demonic or causing dissociation. They say it comes from the mystery religions that have at their core a thirst for secret knowledge that is essentially lucifarianism.

I don't understand how, given your description they manage that. How do you counter their arguments that their criticisms of the Jesus prayer?

 

[m.a.r.X]

Glorify God in everything you do by doing it the best way you could, thats a great prayer (I'm just an infant in terms of my faith but I have heard a lot of wonderful talks about this subject)

 

[Theodore1]

Hi Theodore

I've read that a lot of more fundamentalist protestant Christians think of the Jesus prayer as similar to mediation and somehow demonic or causing dissociation. They say it comes from the mystery religions that have at their core a thirst for secret knowledge that is essentially lucifarianism.

I don't understand how, given your description they manage that. How do you counter their arguments that their criticisms of the Jesus prayer?

Mediation means you are letting yourself become a medium. It means you let yourself become a host for another soul or an evil spirit. The Jesus prayer is prayer. Nothing else. No mediation. Not letting yourself become host to any spirit or demon. By saying the Jesus prayer, you are essentially praying.

I really can not see how the Jesus prayer has anything to do with anything bad. It would be like saying that praying to Jesus Christ is bad.

The Jesus prayer is essentially present since the holy Fathers, on the first centuries AD. It is not something we made up. It constitutes a small but Dense prayer to Christ. The whole essence of our christian life, is striving for atonement and the forgiveness of our sins, and begging for Christ to shield us with His grace from temptations and from the devil.

"My Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me"

Through this prayer one is essentially doing many things at the same time.
First, you acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord, God, and Savior.
Second, you acknowledge the NEED that man has for the mercy of God, because we are all sinners and we have all sinned, so it is only through Christ's sacrifice and his MERCIFUL judgement that we can be saved.
So, one is essentially saying, "Jesus Christ, you are my Lord, my God, my Savior, and as such, please give me, who am a sinner and am also unworthy, your grace and mercy, so that i may be saved, for without your mercy and grace, i am lost and incapable of anything pure and righteous"

We do not seek to do anything through the Jesus prayer which is magical, or evil, or things that Mediums do.
We just pray, continuously asking for the Lord's mercy and grace.
It is like saying the "Our Father" (Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.....) prayer over and over again. it is the same thing. There are many monks who instead of saying the Jesus prayer continuously, say the "Our Father" prayer continuously.

 

[SuperBeaver]

Hi Theodore

Thanks for your reply.

In terms meditation making you a medium for other souls or spirits. How does this happen?

For example, vipassana mediation involves practising a mindfulness of your thoughts and feelings and your present experience, nothing more. This is the heart of Theravada Buddhism. How does this allow an evil spirit to enter?

Also, if it is true that meditation does that, why do most Buddhists become more peaceful, loving, kinder and compassionate when they meditate rather than become more corrupted and evil?

Thanks for your help with this.

 

[Forge3]

Always talking with and listening to God. I suppose works may take on the character of prayer as well.

 

[tahoe]

I like what Derek Prince says about Prayer without Ceasing - He says don't pray for more than 5 minutes, but don't go for more than 30 minutes without praying. (I'm paraphrasing here)

So basically your prayers aren't ending, they are continuous throughout the day.

 

[Theodore1]

good point.
Meditation has different goals.
You have to meditate specifically asking to be a medium in order to be a host for spirits.
Some people meditate to empty their thoughts or to control their feelings. If not careful though, these meditating people can unknowingly consent to a spirit taking over.
In any case however, this is an empty pursuit. They are trying to control what is uncontrollable without the help of God. That is why most of these people who practice these philosophies think they have accomplished something but in truth, they have accomplished nothing. The mind can never be fully controlled without the help of the creator. It is one of the outcomes of our separation from God. Our inability to fully control our thoughts and will.

Man can Not substitute God. Man can not become God or Godlike on his own efforts and it is hubris to think so.

As far as monks becoming more peaceful, loving and kind, this is a Hollywood movies myth. It is not true. The truth behind the so called peaceful and loving monks is far far less appealing.

There are many other examples of monks in financial and other kinds of scandals and scams.

Spirituality my friend requires humility, and humility does not lie in trying to achieve spirituality on your own. Spirituality is not yours to have. Spirituality and wisdom belongs to the creator only and it is his to give to us as He sees fit, and only when we acknowledge this, and also acknowledge that we know nothing (Remember Socrates. "The only thing i do know is that i know nothing", and "All that we say are subjective opinions. True Wisdom lies only in God") and can achieve nothing spiritual on our own accord, and then ask God to give us His grace, it is then that we start to become more than what we have become after the fall. Separated from God, we have become nothing but flesh and blood. Truth, Wisdom, Peace, Love, all Good attributes lie In God, not in us, and through God's grace only, can be ours too, in this world, and in the next one, through love of truth, humility, and prayer.

 

[SOLDIER ❤]

To me it means be in communion with God as much as I can. To pray is to speak with God. And we can have a consistancy if we meditate on God through out the day. We don't have to be on our knees all the time, but we can be in a reverent communication with God. On the way to work, @ work, @ lunch, on your free spare moment just speak to God. 5 minutes, 10, what ever moment you have. That's what I understand.

 

[welshman]

It doesn't mean pray 24/7 just be in a constant attitude of prayer.