Can You Pray About That?
1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.”
Those three simple words bring to mind a few debates we’ve heard over the years.
First, there is the question:
How can you pray without ceasing?
Then there is another question—or maybe it was more of a statement:
Prayer should be done with reverence and not flippantly.
No one at Boss disagrees with that statement. Prayer absolutely deserves reverence. But what one person considers flippant may not be what another person considers flippant.
Here is an example.
We have a big AP laser engraver here at Boss we use for our hickory handles, and one day it goes down. The master wood engraver looks it over, trying to figure out what is wrong, but nothing adds up. Another team member comes in to help. Tech support is called. Troubleshooting is happening from every direction.
Then, as someone reaches for the power switch, one of the team members says out loud:
“Lord, please help this to work and help us solve the problem!”
Was that flippant?
Some may say yes. Others would disagree.
But maybe we should look at it another way.
Can prayer simply be checked off a list at the beginning of the day?
Wake up ✔️
Make breakfast ✔️
Put laundry in ✔️
Say my daily prayers ✔️
Well, that covers that. All good for the day!
Absolutely not!
How can anyone have an intimate relationship with someone if they don’t communicate with them frequently?
That is the kind of relationship we should want with our Heavenly Father. Prayer isn’t supposed to be one item on a daily checklist. It is communication with the One we are supposed to be walking with throughout the entire day.
He may not always give us the answer we want at the moment we want it. Sometimes, if we are wise, we eventually learn to thank Him for that too—because He sees the big picture when we can only see what is right in front of us.
Maybe we couldn’t find our keys when we were already running late. At the time, we were frustrated and asking God why nothing seemed to be going right. Then, a little while later, we passed an accident on the expressway.
Did that delay keep us from being there when it happened?
We may never know.
Sometimes God’s protection is obvious. Sometimes we never get to see what He has protected us from at all.
John 15:5 says:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Jesus tells us to abide in Him—to remain connected to Him.
Think about how much of our ordinary day we tend to move through without giving God another thought.
You just took another step.
You hung that sheet of drywall.
You wrote that sentence on the board.
You took that deep breath.
Every ability we have, every opportunity placed before us, and every breath we take is a gift God has allowed us to have.
So why wouldn’t we talk to the God who is already a part of every moment of our lives?
“Pray without ceasing” doesn’t mean we spend every waking second on our knees with our eyes closed. It means prayer doesn’t have to end when we say “Amen” in the morning. We can continue turning our thoughts toward God throughout the day.
When things seem to be going wrong—pray.
When things are going well—pray and give thanks.
When a coworker is having a bad day—pray.
When that same coworker is having a great day—pray and thank God with them.
When you don’t know what to do next—pray.
And when the answer finally comes—don’t forget to pray then, too.
In fact, the verses surrounding 1 Thessalonians 5:17 say it beautifully:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.”
God wants an intimate relationship with us. He is never too busy for us.
Maybe this week, we can work on not being too busy for Him.
Maybe “pray without ceasing” isn’t a command to never stop speaking.
Maybe it is an invitation to never stop including God.
