1 Thessalonians 5:17
17 Pray [proseuchomai] without ceasing. [adialeiptos] KJV-Interlinear
17 pray without ceasing; NASB
To most people, the
word pray means to ask, plead, implore, to call upon, to urge. It has been given the meaning of making a
request to someone who is in a position to grant your petition requests. Requests that you yourself cannot attain.
But prayer is more than
just making requests.It is a form of
ongoing communication, or engagement, that ties or
bonds a relationship together.
Prayer is a proactive act, that brings the thinking of the one who is praying, to
the one to whom he is praying.Prayer
serves to cause your mind to focus on the recipient of your prayer and the
whole purpose for which you are praying in the first place.
But, prayer is also a
static state or presence of mind, wherein you may not be making any specific or
formal requests, but are simply functioning within the sphere in which prayers
are efficacious.And in that respect,
prayer is a form of worship, or a linking with God.
So, prayer is more than
just asking God for this or that, prayer is also your ongoing state of
fellowship, wherein you are to live your moment by moment life.
Where fellowship is the
state of righteous perfection, the environment in which your spiritual life
functions properly, so too, prayer is the action of conscious thinking, which
causes you to think about God, Christ, doctrine and so forth.
When you are thinking
doctrine, then you are not thinking evil.
When you are in a state of fellowship, then you are not in a state of
carnality.When you are making requests
of God, then you are not engaged in carnal activities.
In this fashion, prayer
is a form of self discipline that helps you to focus on your spiritual state,
and remain there, lest you lose ground in your spiritual life by pondering the
carnal things of this world.
You are commanded to
pray and to pray often.You are
commanded to be in fellowship and to be in fellowship all of the time. You are commanded to be alert as to your
spiritual state, so that you can correct your errors and recover your spiritual
status.
Why?
Because your spiritual
life functions only when you are in fellowship.
Your spiritual blessings function and your relationship with God exists only while you are in fellowship. And more than that, prayer helps you to
circulate the doctrines in your head, so that you can gain even more understanding
of them while you use them or consider them during your thinking processes. Prayer helps you to review, evaluate, and to
keep in the forefront of your thoughts, the doctrines and things of God.
Prayer gives you a good
check and balance system for monitoring your life.
And, prayer is your
only mechanism of communication with God, from within your fellowship sphere,
in this life.
Prayer includes your
confessions to God the Father, your studies and thoughts while in fellowship, that are ongoing in life. It includes your expressions of thanks, as
well as your requests for yourself and for others.
Your spiritual life is
your most valuable possession. It comes to you courtesy of God. The more that you invest in it, the greater
your life now, and especially in eternity, will be.
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