I Thessalonians 5: 17: “Pray without ceasing.” Our Scripture this week has only three but very profound words, “Pray without ceasing.” For the Christian, this is analogous to breathing, and we could say to maintain life, “Breathe without ceasing.” We simply cannot live without continual breathing to bring oxygen into our lungs and to exhale carbon dioxide waste. If we cease to breathe, we cease to live. For the Christian life, prayer serves the same purpose of bringing God’s Word and Spirit into our lives and exhaling what we need to remove. Since breathing is a natural physical function, we move about hardly even thinking about it. As we move about in our daily Christian walk, to pray without ceasing should occur naturally. When we are stressed physically, we breathe at a more rapid pace and deeper. When we are stressed in life, we pray more often and deeper. Aerobic exercise is recommended to keep us healthy, and it clearly expands our cardiac and respiratory capabilities, strength and endurance. When we pray without ceasing, God does the same thing in our lives so that we have the strength and endurance to walk through the trials of life.

Breathing and praying should be viewed alike by the Christian and recognized as absolutely essential to living a healthy and spiritual life. We shouldn’t have to stop and think about breathing or praying. When our lives are healthy physically and spiritually, both will be natural and continual. However, things in daily life will happen that cause us to stop and take a deeper breath or prayer. You have heard the words, “Stop, take a deep breath and relax.” You can then return to a regular rhythm. It is the same with our Lord. We must often stop, take a deep breath, pray and relax in Him. He will give you the extra oxygen you need and remove the excess carbon dioxide you don’t need. Above all, “Pray without ceasing.”