And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) (Acts 1:13-15, KJV)
And when the day of Pentecost was come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4, KJV)
The disciples prayed continually until the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost. They did not predetermine the number of days to Pray; they prayed until the Holy Spirit came. Today, among Christians, there is a laziness to pray until something people desire happens. This trend speaks of a lack of Faith. So, as we urge us to pray continually, we must understand that it takes faith to pray thus and vice versa.
To pray continuously is a matter of faith
When Prayer points are raised in a church meeting, there may not be enough time to pray through all those prayer points. We must continue praying on those issues after we leave the meeting. We must continue to pray at home and everywhere—in our cars, in buses, while walking on the street, etc. Sometimes, we pray for a few minutes in a church meeting, and the pastor asks that we continue the prayer at home, but none of that happens. Once we leave the church premises, we forget about the prayer. Yet, we must pray continually until we get the desired result.
Knowing that after departing the earth, many will struggle with praying constantly, unlike the widow who persistently went to the wicked judge, the Lord asked:
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8, KJV)
The relevance and appropriateness of this question derive from the reality that it takes faith in God to continue praying, even when it seems that nothing is happening. When speaking of Elijah's faith, we really are talking about his determination and resoluteness to pray until he got an answer. Elisha was wrought with the king of Israel because he did not continue to strike the ground until told to stop.
Faith in God will make us continue to ask, knowing that not only can God answer, but He will answer! When the Syrophoenician woman cried after Jesus, and He did not answer her, she did not just turn tail and leave. No! She knew that if there were any hope for her daughter, it would come from Jesus. So, it did not matter Jesus' silent treatment, rebuff, and name-calling; she was resolved to get that answer. We call this importunity, and it is the result of our faith that God will grant our request.
Many people get upset when they do not hear from God after praying for only a few days, albeit casually. Where is their faith in God? We need to ask the question the Lord asked: "Is there faith on the earth?" "Is there faith amongst the brethren?" "Is there faith when we are gathered to pray?"
I heard the story of a town that had had no rain for a couple of years. So, they called a prayer meeting of the town's people. At the prayer venue, everyone attended. One little boy stood out because he went to that meeting with an umbrella! It seemed he was the only one who believed it would rain as they prayed!
Faith enables us to pray continually
The Bible says,
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer (Romans 12:12, KJV)
And,
Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17, KJV)
Usually, some people drop their Bibles and notes once they are done with a church meeting, only to pick them up from the exact spot they had left them on the next church meeting day. This ought not to be. The same is true of the prayer life of many Christians. They only pray when in a church meeting. Once they leave a church meeting, they leave off praying, probably only muttering a few indiscernible and ineffective words thereafter.
The Bible admonishes us to continue instant (or persevere) in prayer without ceasing. Without faith in God, we cannot persevere or endure in prayer. It takes trusting or believing God without doubting that He will not only hear us but will answer. It takes faith in God to pray ceaselessly even when it seems like nothing is happening!
Reading 1 Thessalonians 5:14-25, in the context of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we find the import of praying continually. For instance, if we are not praying without ceasing, we cannot fulfil the injunction,
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18, KJV)
Without continual praying, we will be unable and unwilling to thank God when things go south or turn sour; neither will we care about God's will even when it stares us in the face! Only when we pray without ceasing can we truly appreciate the need to live out Scripture's injunctions.
Again, only when we are praying ceaselessly can we live without quenching the Spirit, despising prophesyings, proving all things, holding on to what is good, and abstaining from every similitude of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). If you are not praying continually, you will quench the Spirit of God, not appreciating why He is leading you in a particular way. You will also be unable to appreciate true prophecy, but will fall for those smooth-talking false prophets whose prophecies do not admonish, but say to those doing evil that it shall be well with them.
I heard the story of Smith Wigglesworth, who had been engrossed with some people in a conversation. After about 15 minutes, he looked at his wristwatch, discontinued the conversation and began to speak to God, saying, "Lord, I am sorry, I did not clock in 10 minutes ago." When his fellow discussants inquired from Smith about this conversation with God, he told them that he usually clocked in to speak with God every five minutes! Smith Wigglesworth would shut off and talk to God even in other people's company. This is what praying without ceasing is!
Is it any wonder such people have such deep revelation of God and the things of God? The more you interact with God through prayer, the more God will expound the Scriptures to you, opening them up and telling you deep things of God through them.
We must also continually pray for others by faith
Paul, by the Holy Spirit, said,
Brethren, pray for us. (1 Thessalonians 5:25, KJV)
If only we knew the mountain of things we have to pray for, we would appreciate why we cannot but pray without ceasing. It takes faith in God to pray for other believers. Faith is acting on the word of God. Hence, when the word of God tells us to pray for others, we do so, whether or not we are aware of their situation. Sometimes, we do not think some people, especially pastors, need our prayers, but by faith, we come to appreciate that they need our prayers.
Paul asks that we constantly pray for him and, by extension, for all responsible for preaching and teaching the gospel. He says we should pray to God to ask for utterance so they can reveal Christ as they ought to (Colossians 4:2-4). Today, there is a lack of teachings in our churches and a scarcity of the word because we are no longer praying for those who minister the word of God. We believe it is the responsibility of pastors to pray for themselves and the church, but prayer, especially for ministers of the gospel, is the responsibility of all believers!
The Holy Spirit again, through Paul, tells us,
first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4, KJV)
The church—both ministers and members—is tasked with praying for civil leaders, not to castigate, insult, or point out their faults. Our responsibility is to pray for heads of government, ministers, police officers, judges, the military, etc. If we are not praying for these people, we cannot expect to lead a peaceful and godly life, as there will be upheavals, turmoils, etc. But when we pray for those in authority over us, we can rest assured that we will be able to conduct ourselves and our businesses in peace. So, when we see turmoils all around us, as is presently the case all over the world, the question should be, "What is the church not doing?" We cannot blame governments!
Without faith, our praying is useless
We must exhibit faith in prayer if we expect God to answer our prayers. The Bible tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God, and those who come to God must believe that He exists and diligently rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Thus, without faith in prayer, we will not please God neither can we persevere nor expect that He will answer.
If you believe that God is a prayer-answering God, you would not mind how long you stay in prayer, and you would be sure that God will answer you no matter how long it may take. But when we do not believe God, we would think it is a waste of time praying, let alone praying continually. To exhibit faith, we must be students of the word of God, for faith comes through hearing God's word (Romans 10:17), particularly, Jesus' atoning work and the relationship and union that it has enabled us to have with God (Ephesians 2:11-19). The more we study Jesus' atoning work and the nature of God, the more we see that it is only in Jesus that we have our prayers answered.
We must, therefore, build ourselves in our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. We need a combination of Bible study and prayer to grow in faith in God (Jude 1:20). We need faith to enable us to receive God's word, especially about Christ and the promises we have as a result of His atoning work at Calvary. We also need faith in God to pray without ceasing—continually. Thus, prayer and faith work interchangeably to bring God's blessings upon us.
Let us, therefore, pray in faith and have faith in God in our prayer!
Shalom.
