Pray Without Ceasing?

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. Romans 1:7-10

There's a lot in this passage I'd love to discuss, but it's verses 9 and 10 that sparked my imagination today. What must Paul's prayer life have been like? He "constantly" remembers the church in Rome in his prayers "at all times"? Wow. I can just imagine Paul's prayer list - all the churches and people he'd introduced to Jesus and encouraged and discipled and lived life with, as well as so many who had yet to hear or to respond to the message. He obviously believed in the power of prayer. My suspicion is that he had learned the secret to living in constant communication with the Father, like Brother Lawrence in "Practicing the Presence of God". That's why he could later exhort the church at Thessalonica to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17). 

Here's one more element of Christian living that has produced much guilt in my life in the past - but one that I'm learning to re-frame according to the grace I've recently found. Praying without ceasing seems an insurmountable task, doesn't it? It does when I think of it in terms of how I was raised to view prayer: a specific time set aside in one's day (the longer, the better) to humbly pray through a (long) list of concerns and requests, from immediate family to world hunger and everything in between, and to give thanks for answers received. For many years, I tried and failed to consistently implement this into my life. Talk about discouraging! While this kind of focused, disciplined prayer definitely has a place in the life of the believer, it's much easier to follow through when we're already living life in fellowship with God. And for me, that's simply about remembering and being aware of the fact that God is always with me. We all have a pretty much constant inner monologue (Right? It's not just me?) that I'm training myself to turn into a kind of prayer, to direct God-ward. 

And one more thing: I think it's pretty cool that Paul let the Romans know he was lifting them up in prayer. I love it when someone tells me they're praying for me - it makes me feel loved and humbled all at the same time. 

Challenge:

-to pray; to keep practicing the presence of God

-to remind people occasionally that I'm remembering them in my prayers