Don’t Stop Praying

Pray without ceasing…

I guess you have heard people say that we should all pray without ceasing lots of times. It almost sounds like a cliché! Well, I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find it hard to pray without ceasing. The distractions of the world come to take my focus away from God. The trials of this life wear me out. Challenges come my way just when I want to whisper a prayer. Funny enough, when life seems to going on well I also forget that prayer should be a priority!

I have, however, discovered a few tips along the way that might help us with our prayer lives.

Prayer is about building a relationship with God

When you make a new friend, don’t you look forward to spending time with this person so that you get to know them better? How about dating couples who can’t bear to be apart from each other? It should be the same with prayer – you and I should want to keep talking to God as much as we are able to, without getting tired.

Also, remember that in a relationship, people listen to one another. In the same way, we should not just talk to God but also listen to Him. He speaks to us in so many ways. However, the only way you will discover the special way He speaks to you is by learning to listen. God may speak to you through His word. You may hear a tiny voice, a voice that you know for sure is God’s. You may feel a sense of peace deep in your spirit accompanied by a word from the Bible. The key thing here is to learn to listen so that your relationship with God is not a one-way thing.

Prayer is continuous

Do you only pray when you are in trouble? You are in good company! Many of us only remember God when we are faced with challenges!

When I was in high school, for some reason I was not interested in God. As the final exams came closer, however, I panicked and started praying. I prayed, friends, I really prayed! I was scared of failing! I realized that I needed God, and I needed Him now!

As I look back at that period, I wish I had been more consistent in prayer. I wish I had reached out to the Lord earlier. I had no idea that prayer would bring me so close to Him, especially because I ended up giving my life to the Lord immediately after high school.  

As I grew in the faith, I observed people who would spend long hours in prayer, and I wondered why and how they were doing this. Initially, however, I thought that praying for long was a sign of spirituality (those who were in Kenyan campuses know what I mean here). I would sit in the campus field and pray the same thing over and over, trying to keep up with the so-called prayer warriors. I was quite frustrated and eventually gave up on the lunchtime prayer sessions. I still wanted to pray, though, so I started praying about the little things.

“Lord, we need a matatu that we can all fit in.”

“Lord, please help me find a short queue at the mess so that I can eat quickly and make it for my morning lecture. “

“Lord, please let the water supply to our hostel be restored so we can do our laundry today and the toilets can be cleaned.”

He would answer these prayers.

Then it hit me. Prayer is not a one-time event – it is continuous. It takes place anytime and anywhere. Anybody can pray, and as many times as they want to. That’s how we pray without ceasing.

Do you pray about everything? Do you want to deepen your relationship with God through prayer? Are you listening to Him keenly? If your answer to any of these questions is “YES” or “I’m working on it,” you are praying without ceasing! It’s not that hard! You can do it! Keep whispering those prayers in the office, in the matatu, on the long drives, in the queue in the supermarket, and as you do your house chores. All those are prayers that God hears! Don’t stop praying! Pray!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.” (ESV)