In The Holy Bible we read, “We are told Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.”1
To ‘pray without ceasing’ is the constant turning our thought and lives to God every moment; giving thanks to Him who is all Perfect, loving His ways and means. This protects us from the challenges that can easily catch us off guard in times of lull.
Lull? Lull are those times, those moments or years when our focus is lost—our thoughts, our attention is not on God. We are being less prayerful, less obedient, less observant of God’s direction. We have put ourselves, our ego, other’s want and needs, before God. It is a form of self-hypnosis. We are being lulled away from our clear thinking and strong work as the children of God. Instead we’re letting the hypnotic suggestions of TV, amusements, frivolity, monetary gains and possessions, or worrisome concerns, lull us away from our strong thought, God, Mind.
By praying, communing with God, every moment we become strong sentinels. Unceasing prayer guards our thoughts and lives against fears, time wasters, and even the vanities and self-centeredness of impure thoughts. As we pray continually, fighting the threat and temptations of these ‘lulls’, we become stronger instead of weak.
In these lulls we are also being too busy to give thanks. We are ‘quenching the Spirit’ through disobedience and lack of listening to God. Instead of letting the Spirit lift us up in thought and activities, we are following our own will and desires. We are not striking down the serpentine lies, that are trying to make us afraid, confused, lost in a personal sense of an ‘us’ opposed to God’s perfect divine Will.
We pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”2 This is a constant perfect Will. It leads us to better ways and views. We must constantly seek this Will to lead us every step of the way.
“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love… For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance;… with joy of the Holy Ghost:”3
When we are thinking so much about God’s loving care for each of us, ‘remembering without ceasing’ our work of faith in the labor of love. As we patiently hope for, seek after, and find the Christ, Truth, we will be constantly praying. Life’s hardships will come and go, but with less effect and discouragement on our part. As we work our way above all of life’s challenges God’s Will becomes our strong foundation.
We must remember and know that we are the children of God. As Children of God we are not ailing, failing, fearing, lost mortals in a sea of burden and problems. We are spiritual ideas in Divine Consciousness, expressing His manifestation. This knowledge lifts us up above the seething sea of sadness, depression and problems. It rises our thought and activity from debase, impure, fearful, confused thoughts, to consciously pure, divine purpose.
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder and discoverer of Christian Science states, “In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God's allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must "pray without ceasing." Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice.
The Master's injunction is, that we pray in secret and let our lives attest our sincerity.”4
This ‘closet’ is our spiritual sense where we close our thoughts from the barrage of material temptations, conflicts, fears and doubts. By turning whole heartedly to God for His complete guidance we consecrate our lives through prayer and obedience to only God, Principle.
When we pray unceasingly, seeking only His wisdom, we lift our lives and help others to do the same. We are then being lead by the Perfect One, God. We are walking above the problems with divine guidance and perfect solutions.
Let us turn this day into a day of unceasing prayer. Let us obediently follow the answers that He gives to us unswervingly. Let us see how unceasing prayer changes thought. This constant communion with God reveals our perfect Selfhood in Him.
‘God lights the way of duty,
And gives, for ashes, beauty,
And naught His hand delays;
Who trusts in His providing,
All glad in this confiding,
Is he who without ceasing prays.”5
Gentle
hug
1 The King James Version of The Holy Bible I Thessalonians 5:17-19
2 ibid Matthew 6:10; Matthew 26:42; Luke 11:2
3 ibid I Thessalonians 1:3-6
4 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy page 15 lines 14-24
5 Christian Science Hymnal No. 361 vs. 3
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