Pray Without Ceasing!

1 Thessalonians 5:17: Pray without ceasing.
Ephesians 6:18: With all prayer and petition
pray at all times in the Spirit
and with this in view, be on
the alert with all perserverence
and petition for all the saints.

I learned 2 1/2 years ago what this really means, what it looks like, and how to do it.
Before that time I thought it impossible to pray all the time. What could one pray about all day? I wondered.
Then tragedy struck my life. My son was attacked by a pit bull, within the next twelve months my father in law, grandmother, and father passed away. Then two years later my husband walks away from our marriage and family. It was during this time that I truly learned what it meant to rely on God and to pray without ceasing.

I prayed about everything under the sun. I praised God, prayed for my children, prayed for other family members, prayed for friends, prayed for our nation, prayed for our policemen and firemen, prayed for those we passed in car accidents or having car trouble, prayed for those we heard about in car accidents over the radio or news, prayed for the military, prayed for judges, prayed for the president, prayed for the weather, prayed for cashiers as we stood in their lines, prayed for provisions, prayed for health, prayed for opportunities to share my testimony, prayed for others children, prayed for the children that came up on the television in other countries that were starving, prayed for…

Get my point? I found myself praying daily without ceasing. There were a multitude of things to pray for or about.
It got to the point that when someone called, my children often had to ask if I could call them back because I was praying. They would hear me in the bathroom praying or see me at the kitchen sink praying. At first they would ask me what was wrong, and I would tell them I was praying. It then became a normal thing for them to see and they stopped asking because they knew what I was doing.

Sadly, I have stopped that “norm” for me and I have to say that I no longer experience the presence of the Holy Spirit as I used to. Where did that fire go, that desire to be in His presence? I haven’t stopped praying, but I don’t pray without ceasing.

So will you pray with me that I will regain that fire, that desire, to be in His presence? His Word? I miss it more than anyone can imagine and I’m anxious to have it back.