Article July 4, 1994 Issue

"Pray without ceasing"

Mark Raffles

In the Bible we are directed, "Pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17). That may sound reasonable for people whose lives were devoted to spreading God's Word two thousand years ago. But what about Christians today? After all, most of us also have jobs to do, families to raise, schoolwork to finish. Is there a way for us to pray without ceasing?

Perhaps a good way to answer that question is to examine our concept of prayer. The way Christ Jesus prayed is probably the best example and is best described as spiritual communion with God. While he did spend nights alone in prayerful solitude, at other times he must have been calmly and silently praying right in the middle of a bustling or even violent crowd. Whatever the circumstances, his prayer was based on a humble and confident understanding of God's willingness and power to help and heal. He continually acknowledged the spiritual oneness of God and His expression, man. This activity took place in consciousness and was not dependent on time, location, or surrounding.

How do we bring more constancy to our prayers? In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, "The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer" (p. 4). Striving to be good all the time is something that's not beyond anyone's reach. Surely there's no one too busy to be more honest, humble, grateful, or kind. The circumstances that would seem to keep us from praying are instead opportunities to pray, to be consistently good right where that may seem hardest to do. The Bible tells us that God is good and that man is His image and likeness. As we learn more of what it means to be God's likeness, we see that goodness must actually be natural for us, inherent in our real being.

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