Praying ‘without ceasing’

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the apostle Paul instructs Christians to ‘pray without ceasing’. How should we interpret this?

It’s obviously not a literal instruction, as it would be impossible for anyone to pray all day every day.

In Matthew 6, Jesus says the following:

“This, then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

In light of the above, it seems to me that obeying Jesus and saying the Lord’s Prayer is certainly what we should do, and if we make this a daily practice, that would constitute ‘without ceasing’.

We may have prayer requests that arise throughout the day, and hopefully God doesn’t mind us taking these to Him. But by committing to saying the Lord’s Prayer every day, it would seem to me we are honouring the instructions of both Paul and Jesus.

What are your thoughts on Christian prayer? Feel free to leave a comment below.