The week of prayer is rockin’ so far. I’m hearing so many cool things about every aspect of the week.
Here is an email that came to Andy, who is coordinating our 24/7 Prayer Wall.
What a wonderful hour! I had the 5a-6a hour. I woke up early and felt like a little kid getting ready to go to Disneyland. Thank you for the opportunity. Like Todd said on his blog, at first an hour of prayer seemed daunting-but then it wasn’t enough.
Chetta
If you are following along in the Prayer Journal, you know that today’s emphasis was on “Pray Without Ceasing”. Of course the Scripture that we pondered was 1 Thess 5:17. Those are the 3 English in the NASB translation. Simple, right! In the Greek language that Paul wrote it in it’s even simpler, down to 2 words: adialhptws proseuchesthe,. Always praying (the 2nd word is an imperative / command mood so we could add always be praying!)
I think it’s best that we don’t complicate it, but it is good to ponder it. Personally, I’m not there. I still go long stretches of a day without being consciously aware of God’s presence & without saying a word to Him. But I think I’m growing in this. I hope you are too.
Two little books have inspired me & helped me to move ahead in “unceasing prayer”. One is the one we at Journey featured over Christmas, Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank Laubauch. It is simply a must read. Then of course there is Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God, written in the 17th century. Both are fantastic.
Here are a few quotes on unceasing prayer, they come from Richard Foster’s great book called Prayer. I picked it up today & I just happened to be on the chapter on… you guessed it, unceasing prayer.
“There no mode of life in the world more pleasing & more full of delight an continual conversation with God.” Bro Lawrence
“Let the memory of Jesus combine with your breath.+ St John of the Ladder
It was said of St Francis that he “seemed not so much a man praying as prayer itself made man.”
“Oh, this thing of keeping in constant touch with God, of making him the object of my thought & the companion of my conversations, is the most amazing thing I ever ran across.” Frank Laubauch.
Now check out this quote from Isaac the Syrian:
When the Spirit has come to reside in someone, that person cannot stop praying; for the Spirit prays without ceasing in him. No matter if he is asleep or awake, prayer is going on in his heart all the time. He may be eating or drinking, he may be resting or working – the increase of prayer will ascend spontaneously from his heart.
May the Spirit lead us closer to “prayer without ceasing!”
