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Praying ceaselessly
We're making our way through a trio of things that come under the heading of being "the will of God in Christ Jesus" for us. These are things that God wants our Christian lives to be defined by. These actions should be continual and constant. There ought to be a steady flow of them coming forth from us, and the next one in line is to pray without ceasing.
"Pray without ceasing? How does one do that, exactly? Am I supposed to shut everything else in life down? Do I quit my job and go live in a monastery or convent? Should I close my eyes and fold my hands when I drive? And how am I supposed to pray without ceasing while I'm sleeping? This is an aspect of God's will that can't be kept!"
It can't be kept if we strictly look at prayer as a discipline and not as a disposition. "What's the difference?"
There are certainly times when we discipline ourselves to pray, when we shut down all other activities and set aside time to exclusively talk to God. Jesus told us that there are times when we're to go into our "prayer closet" and be totally engaged in the discipline of prayer (Matthew 6).
But prayer isn't limited to being a discipline. It's also a disposition, a continual attitude, a default mode, of sorts. It's that continual consciousness that our lives are before Him, and that there's always an open channel of access between our heart and His.
Just as the needle of a compass will always point to magnetic north, our hearts should always be pointed toward heaven. Everything ultimately points back to God's Kingdom, throne, and presence.
God's will for prayer isn't for it to be an isolated activity that disrupts the normal flow of life, but for it to be the normal flow of activity in our hearts.
We're making our way through a trio of things that come under the heading of being "the will of God in Christ Jesus" for us. These are things that God wants our Christian lives to be defined by. These actions should be continual and constant. There ought to be a steady flow of them coming forth from us, and the next one in line is to pray without ceasing.
Think about it...
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
We're making our way through a trio of things that come under the heading of being "the will of God in Christ Jesus" for us. These are things that God wants our Christian lives to be defined by. These actions should be continual and constant. There ought to be a steady flow of them coming forth from us, and the next one in line is to pray without ceasing.
"Pray without ceasing? How does one do that, exactly? Am I supposed to shut everything else in life down? Do I quit my job and go live in a monastery or convent? Should I close my eyes and fold my hands when I drive? And how am I supposed to pray without ceasing while I'm sleeping? This is an aspect of God's will that can't be kept!"
It can't be kept if we strictly look at prayer as a discipline and not as a disposition. "What's the difference?"
There are certainly times when we discipline ourselves to pray, when we shut down all other activities and set aside time to exclusively talk to God. Jesus told us that there are times when we're to go into our "prayer closet" and be totally engaged in the discipline of prayer (Matthew 6).
But prayer isn't limited to being a discipline. It's also a disposition, a continual attitude, a default mode, of sorts. It's that continual consciousness that our lives are before Him, and that there's always an open channel of access between our heart and His.
Just as the needle of a compass will always point to magnetic north, our hearts should always be pointed toward heaven. Everything ultimately points back to God's Kingdom, throne, and presence.
God's will for prayer isn't for it to be an isolated activity that disrupts the normal flow of life, but for it to be the normal flow of activity in our hearts.
We're making our way through a trio of things that come under the heading of being "the will of God in Christ Jesus" for us. These are things that God wants our Christian lives to be defined by. These actions should be continual and constant. There ought to be a steady flow of them coming forth from us, and the next one in line is to pray without ceasing.
Think about it...
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
Scripture
About this Plan
Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, founded in 1985, has grown to be one of the largest churches in the country, and now has nine regional campuses in Florida in addition to the main campus in Fort Lauderdale. The church has established and now operates dozens of ministries to answer the needs for foster care, addiction recovery, and discipleship training. The church's mission is simply, "make disciples."
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We would like to thank Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale for providing this daily devotional. For more information about the church and other media resources it provides for personal discipleship, please visit www.calvaryftl.org
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