Pray Without Ceasing

‘Pray without Ceasing’. Sounds intimidating, sounds like a lot of work. That’s what I thought when I read it for the first time as a teen. Praying without ceasing? Does that mean I need to pray every spare second through the day? That seems impossible. But now that I am a lot older, I realise that what Paul was saying wasn’t impossible.

The one thing that the Lord brought to my attention last year was my prayer life. Or lack of. I have previously wrote on this blog how I was confronted with the fact that even though I have been a believer in Jesus Christ for over 2 decades, I rarely prayed to God. I never gave any problems up in prayer, my reflex was always to panic first and then pray when panicking didn’t help.

And I don’t think I am the only believer that struggles with this.

I think when life gets busy or gets tough, our flesh makes us do everything but go to God first. Or some of us may think that what we need resolved in our lives is to small for God or the problem we have on our mind is too big for God to do anything.

Which is sad because there is so much scripture that not only encourages us to pray but kinda sets the expectation that we are to pray continuously.

Take Colossians 4:2 for example, ‘Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.’

Or when Jesus Christ was teaching the disciples the Lords Prayer in Matthew 6. The first thing he says before reciting the prayer is in verse 5, ‘And when you pray…‘, not if.

So what does praying without ceasing actually look like in ordinary life? It looks like a quiet “Lord, help me” when the anxiety kicks in before you’ve even got out of bed. It looks like a moment of gratitude when something small goes right. It looks like bringing the thing that’s been sitting heavy on your heart to God before you pick up your phone and scroll. It’s not hours on your knees with perfectly structured sentences. It’s simply keeping the conversation open — honest, ordinary, and ongoing.

Paul wasn’t setting an impossible standard. He was inviting us into a different way of living. One where God is the first person we turn to, not the last resort.

And if you’re someone who wants to pray more consistently but isn’t quite sure where to begin — I made something for you. The Prayer Starter Bundle includes my How to Pray 101 ebook, which gently walks you through what prayer is, how to start, and how to keep going even on the hard days. It also includes a simple Prayer Request App where you can log your prayers, add scripture, and look back and see God’s faithfulness over time. Because sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is start small. One honest prayer. One quiet moment. That’s enough.

You can find the Prayer Starter Bundle in the shop — I’d love for it to be your gentle on-ramp into a more consistent prayer life.