1 Thessalonians 5:17 Rejoice always, pray continually.
“Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God’s voice is its most essential part. Listening to God’s voice is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine.” – Andrew Murray
Jesus is the perfect epitome for us to follow. He showed us the way to live, respond and reciprocate. He gave us the pattern and the practice of daily prayer. He prayed for hours every morning and night and even during His busiest days of ministry. He prayed before every major event. He prayed before the tomb of Lazarus, before He served the lunch box of 5 loaves and 2 fish to the 5000+ hungry hoard. He prayed all night before He picked His working group of 12 disciples. He prayed until His sweat became tear drops of blood (‘hematohidrosis’ occurs when individuals suffer from extreme levels of stress). But what did Jesus pray for?
Jesus is the ‘bread of life’, so He would not have prayed for bread. ‘He is the light of the world’, so He would not have prayed to break the bondage of darkness. ‘Jesus is the door’, so He would not have prayed for breakthroughs. ‘Jesus is the way’, ‘the truth’ and ‘the life’. All things were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16b). So what was the need to pray? Why did Jesus pray? And why are we commanded to pray continually?
Jesus engaged in dialogues with the Father about strategies and methodologies. His prayer times were ‘work-in-progress’ meetings when they spoke about the agenda for the day and the hour. This is why Jesus replied to His mother “My hour has not yet come.” There was a set time for the miracle based on the discussion He had with the Father in the morning and Jesus was waiting for the green signal from above. If Jesus prayed continually, we must learn the art of praying and talking to the Father in Heaven continually.
How do we pray continually?
1. Physiology: Jesus would have spoken to the Father about what it is to be ‘God-in-a-human-body’ with human limitations. We can talk to God about physiological and psychological struggles and get His opinion. We can talk about our physical and emotional needs. He told us not to worry about our needs but He never told us not to talk to Him about it.
2. Strategy: Jesus would have discussed strategies and plans to reach the goodnews of salvation and redemption to humanity. We can talk about our challenges and ask Him to teach us His strategies. He has the best solution for all our problems.
3. Methodology: Talk to Him about the methodologies. Jesus is the best doctor, accountant or architect. Our conversation need not always be Biblical. It can be a methodology to resolve engineering, plumbing or an aeronautic issue. Talk to Him throughout your day about your day-to-day issues.
Prayer is a continuous conversation about the theological, physical, emotional or intellectual doubts and deliberations to the Lord. Talk, but stop and listen to God’s opinion.
Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Prayer: Dearest Lord Jesus, help me to be in close touch with you throughout the day about anything and everything. Amen.
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