Oct. 5, 2005

1 Thessalonians 5:17- "Pray without ceasing."

In the last few weeks, we've had to get a DSL connection for our home computer, as my wife has an online class this semester. What a change from standard dial-up! Now, family photos can be downloaded, or uploaded so other relatives and friends can see them, at incredibly fast speeds. And, praise God, I can download sermon MP3 files quickly! It's computer heaven. What makes DSL so neat is a constant, dedicated connection. There's really no lag time, because there is a constant connection.

If you think about it, this is what our lives are supposed to be like. We should have a constant connection with our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord taught us that we should "always pray, and not faint" (Luke 18:1). Paul told us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). But how do we accomplish this? Certainly, we can't spend all of our time on our knees, crying out to God, can we?

I think what Paul is telling us is that we need to keep open and connected with the Lord. We need to stay in an attitude of prayer, spiritually "online". This is done through living a life of praise, prayer, and worship. We need to incorporate these disciplines in our everyday lives. Paul said it this way, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:18-20). When we stay in this attitude of prayer, we are keeping the line uncluttered. God has our attention. Then, that's when He can call on us in times of need, when specific prayer is needed. Let's keep our line of communication with our Lord open. Let's keep the fellowship that both we and the Lord desire kindled. "Pray without ceasing".