Are you tapping the power of God?
Nearly 2,000 years ago the apostle Paul gave an interesting directive to Christians living in the Mediterranean port city of Thessalonica: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
What did Paul mean by that?
Paul here urges all Christians to recognize God as an active living and loving God who wants to be an integral part of our life. Practical prayer represents our active acknowledgment and appreciation of that fact. Prayer is indeed the mark of a Christian! It's important for the Christian to be ready to talk to, think about, and be prepared to call out to God. A Christian is one who is always ready to pray and who is in the spirit of prayer continually.
Paul's directive does not mean to be in formal, cumbersome state of addressing God. God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Jesus tells us that "your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:8).
So why pray at all? In the famous scripture about faith, we are told that we "must believe that he [God] exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6, New International Version, emphasis added). Do you believe that? In writing to the ancient Thessalonians, Paul is also today encouraging us to be always ready and develop a regular habit of thanking, praising, consulting and seeking God. A Christian is in perpetual contact with God. Prayer represents a spiritual lifeline, a way to tap the very power of God in our lives.
If you are a parent, then you can relate to why God wants His sons and daughters to talk with Him. As parents, we want to give our children good things and to help guide them. On a much grander scale, God wants the same things for us.
So how do we do we get into a state where we can "pray without ceasing"? Allow me to share a few personal experiences. My day in prayerful contact with God may go like this:
1. Wake up. In my thoughts thank God for a new day, another opportunity to practice His ways and impact others positively.
2. Make time to kneel and thank God for what He has blessed me with, ask for guidance for the day, ask for the knowledge of His will (Romans 12:1-2) and humbly praise Him for answering prayer and for being with me, as well as pray for people with needs, hurts, sicknesses and trauma.
3. When I sit down to eat, offer simple thanks to God. Thank God for food, sustenance and all good things. Recognize that there are many people not so fortunate who have to spend a greater part of their life to secure and provide food just barely to stay alive.
4. As I leave for work, be spiritually mindful in my thoughts and ask for protection, direction, and favor (Psalm 90:17).
5. When the time comes to make decisions, stop and ask God for guidance to make the right one, to do the next right thing.
6. When seeing things go right in the day, thank and praise God for the successes.
7. When seeing things go wrong, ask God for intervention, support, understanding, patience, and wisdom. Ask to be shown what lessons should be learned (James 1:2-5).
8. Pray with fellow workers and ask for God's guidance and presence when beginning a meeting that will impact what the Church does and the people involved.
9. Midday, thank God for the food that He again provides.
10. During the day if the going gets tough, ask God for relief and endurance.
11. At the end of a day, thank God for all the ways He has been with me and what He has blessed me with. Ask Him to teach me and help me learn spiritual lessons, even if they're learned through adversity.
12. Thank God for my evening meal and those whom I may be sharing it with.
13. As I may read or study the Bible, ask Him to illuminate and spiritually ignite the words in my mind.
14. Before falling asleep, briefly review the day with God and humbly praise Him for being with me and guiding my paths.
As you can see, hardly a few hours go in my day without at least a simple and short prayer. It's very personal. Neither I nor anyone I work with makes a big show of it. This conscious, constant contact with God is prayer without ceasing. Of course, some prayers are very short, others are longer and more narrative.
I don't mind telling you that I cannot live without prayer. I need help, and the best support I have is being spiritually in a place where God is right by my side through the day (Micah 6:8). I'm not clever enough to do all that I have to by relying solely on my human abilities. I believe that my life is not mine, but part of a destiny that God is in total control of. So I want and need constant contact with God! Direct, simple, humble and sincere prayer without ceasing is how I tap the power of God.
This is typical day for me. What's yours? How has God answered prayer in your life? Please write to me at victor_kubik@ucg.org and tell me about your experience.
P.S.: Do you want to know more about effective prayer and all it can do for you? My experience is but one of many approaches to daily prayer. Go to our ucg.org website and type in PRAYER or PRAY in the search box. You will find more than 14,000 references to this subject in all of our content.
