1 Thessalonians 5:17 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, for you.
In a recent piece of writing titled, "Why giving thanks when life is awful is so important," I detailed my journey with God, losing a student to suicide and then an ectopic pregnancy, through the first and third portions of 1 Thessalonians 5:17. The idea of rejoicing and giving thanks when circumstances are brutal, at face value, seems like a harsh expectation from the Lord. Does He need his ego stroked in the midst of our pain like some kind of cosmic jerk? No. Not at all. He made us in His image and is giving us the operating manual for how we are meant to live. You can dive into the science behind that with me here.
The section that reads "pray without ceasing" is another one of those expectations which, at face value, seems at the very least unrealistic (Ummmm can you say four kids and a full time job?), and without an accurate understanding of God's nature could seem downright egomaniacal (like the attention expectations of our chihuahua Spike).
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| All I want is all of your attention, all the time. |
When I say "prayerlessness" what I mean is not the absence of an hour-long prayer time in the morning or an International House of Prayer meeting happening in your living room. In the verse referenced above from Thessalonians the Greek word used for "without ceasing" is adialeiptos which literally translates "constantly recurring."
This is the lifeblood of the Christian walk.
It cannot be overstated the vital importance of walking with the Holy Spirit throughout the day and night (yes even while sleeping). I think of the words in His Eye is on the Sparrow, "my constant friend is He." Longer times to press in and cry out to God are a beautiful part of this walk too, but it is the my-best-friend-is-always-right-here prayers that sustain our walk.
So I'm going to do a bit of a flip and, instead of going through verses and stories we know very well about prayers being answered, we are going to look at what the Word says about not praying. Chances are many will, like I did when I first heard a message on this from Bill Johnson, be able to see the effects scripture is talking about in their own lives.
High Cost of Prayerlessness #1: Falling Into Temptation
In Luke 22 (Mark 14, Matthew 26), right before Jesus is taken into custody to be crucified, he is praying so earnestly that his sweat turns to blood. You may remember that right before this prayer session in Gethsemane Jesus had told his disciples that they were going to abandon him, telling Peter he will deny him three times. Jesus comes back to the disciples and finds them asleep and tells them, "watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." Jesus knows that they are going to abandon him but he is still giving them the power they would need to make him wrong. God doesn't tempt us, but we are tempted when the status of ours hearts turn a situation that is otherwise neutral into an opportunity for temptation to take root. PrayerFULLness heightens our ability to quickly kill thoughts of temptation when they sprout up because we have that constant communication with the Spirit. PrayerLESSness leaves us in a constant state of tension with temptation, wondering if we are going to give in or not.
The area of my life I have seen the most profound difference in life before praying without ceasing and after is in regard to my relationship with alcohol. When I was deep in the red with booze my prayer life consisted mostly of going through The List of prayer items while walking on the treadmill or driving to get groceries in Fargo. The cry of my heart was to leave alcohol in the dust but it was like the 5 p.m. me and the 5 a.m. me were two completely different people with different intentions and goals! I felt completely hopeless that I would ever be able to put the drink down for good OR would be doomed to live a life with alcohol having a constant preoccupation in my thoughts and temptations.
But then...after a (seemingly unrelated at the time) series of devotionals and experiences encouraged me to live every day, all day, in constant contact in prayer I noticed the thoughts of temptation receding. Some random drinking-related idea would cross my mind like, "Chris isn't going to be home tonight-perfect opportunity to happily drink alone, look you even have cash in your purse." And, in the encouraging words of Dan Mohler, I would pray and declare,
"Thank you God that I am yours and your Holy Spirit is revealing these things in me and exposing them. Thank you that I have freedom in you and I am not the temptation that I face."
And slowly, over time, those thoughts died out. I remember the night, no special night in particular, I was reading with the twins and it occurred to me I hadn't thought about alcohol in a while. This might seem super simple (and I honestly hope you have never and never will deal with this struggle) but to me it was enormous. I had this wave of gratitude and fulfillment of hope wash over my spirit. I still get those thoughts from time to time, much less intense and farther apart. I still pray for God's hand in my thought life and every time I drive by a liquor store I thank God, pray for complete freedom and lift up the names of others who I know are struggling with addiction.
PrayerLESSness allows us to live with daily battles we should never even have had to face. It robs us of precious time and energy fighting those battles when we could be creating and serving. PrayerFULLness opens our senses to see what is really happening in the unseen realms. It gives us constant access to the power we need to shoot down the flaming arrows of the enemy.
High Cost of Prayerlessness #2: Absence of Breakthrough
In Luke 18 Jesus tells the story of a woman who goes before a judge who is, apparently, not all that great of a person. She cries out to him begging for justice against her adversaries. He doesn't really give her the time of day until he thinks about it later and is like (my version), "This woman is going to annoy me until I do what she wants." Jesus, in verse 6, says, "will not God bring about justice for his elect who cry out to Him day and night?" It reminds me of in Matthew 7:11 when Jesus says, "If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask of him?" I kid you not, Good Good Father is playing on the radio as I type this lol.
PrayerLESSness allows the absence of breakthrough to become the norm. Even worse, it contributes to an inaccurate view of God's nature that says he either can't or he won't answer.
Jesus wraps up the parable by asking, "Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes, will he find this faith on earth?" So this type of persistence in prayer must be rare? How devastating! What would happen if believers all over the world refused to back down, refused to give up, continued day after day to cry out for justice, for the parentless, for the lost, for those in slavery? Let the weightiness of your request determine the weightiness of your appeal. Fast, bring others together to pray alongside you, bring your business or ministry dream to the elders. James 4:2 says we do not have because we do not ask. Many people are sitting around waiting for God to do something but that's not how the economy of God works.
Years ago my friend Ruth and I were seniors in high school and serving in our church's youth ministry. We were in the midst of a very dry season. You now the kind of season I'm talking about like we could have just as well have read the newspaper from the pulpit there was just no movement? This was right when the Sonic Flood album "Heart of Worship" had been released and had hit both of us with fire.
Typically she and I would meet a couple hours before youth group and pick out songs and practice and then say a quick group prayer before the meeting. We started getting there about an hour before that, blasting this Sonic Flood album, praying over every chair in the place, anointing the doors with oil (did I mention we were absolutely set on fire for Jesus?). Eventually leadership actually took the oil away from us because we were apparently oiling with too much gusto. We did that week after week, month after month. That summer we had a pastor, Joe Clauson, come and spend a few days with our youth group. Ruth and I kicked it up a notch and met in the sanctuary each morning at 6 a.m. asking God to pour down. We didn't know it at the time but Pastor Joe had felt an urgency about these meetings and had been fasting the week prior.
Suffice it to say God showed up. He showed up BIG. Let me put it this way, a woman in the congregation, one of the youth leaders, I had known for years came up to me in tears and asked for forgiveness for a grudge she had held against me since two years before (I had no idea). That's the kind of joy and peace and freedom that fell down on us!
Why doesn't God answer right away? Because something happens in us when we go through this process. I change with persistence in prayer. As I cry out to God, over and over, I become more and more invested-willing to give anything. PrayerFULLness builds in us an ability to steward the very things we are asking God for.
The High Cost of Prayerlessness #3: It Gives the Enemy a Place to Reside
In Luke 11 Jesus is talking about casting out demons and explains in verse 24 that when an unclean spirit goes out of a man he goes looking for dry places seeking rest. We know from scripture such as John 7 (and others) that the Spirit is inside of us like a river...and the enemy is looking dry places. When we fail to connect to the flow of the spirit, day after day, we run the risk of becoming a dry place which is simply completely unnecessary. Paul warned the church in Ephesus, writing to the most mature of all the churches who received letters, to not give place to the devil (Eph. 4). This isn't referring to demon possession, it's referring to a place of influence in us. PrayerLESSness creates a vacancy in us. What does vacancy look like in the natural? Think of a house or neighborhood that is vacant-it typically doesn't look better after a period of vacancy than it did when it was occupied.
This is really important because we see this in ministry all the time. We will have an individual who comes in for prayer and receives breakthrough, gets rid of some yuck, but walks out of our doors and doesn't stay connected, doesn't shepherd under anyone, and doesn't pursue that relationship with the Lord. Low and behold a few months later and we're back in the grips of addiction or back in debt or whatever it is, and worse.
PrayerFULLness fills the deepest corners of our hearts with the Spirit of the Living God-no room at the Inn for shenanigans!
The High Cost of Prayerlessness #4: Being Sons and Daughters
Follow me through a line of thinking in scripture-----
In Matthew 5:44 Jesus says, "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven." In John 5:19 we see Jesus declaring that he (as the son) can only do what he sees his father in heaven doing. So we know that this idea of forgiving and praying for those who oppose us is close to the heart of God. I really believe that there are certain things being withheld by God from the earth until the Lord sees a people who can carry the weight of the blessing. Romans 8, for example, says that creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
Why? There is something miraculous that happens when we pray for the good, the hopes and dreams, the children and grandchildren, of those who oppose us. Routinely. Consistently. Daily. I'm not talking about asking God to change their hearts or show them the error of their ways- Proverbs 30:10 says never criticize a servant to the master. I'm talking about the same kinds of things we lift up for our own children, Jeremiah 24 type stuff:
My eyes will watch over them for their good...I will build them up...I will plant them. I will give them a heart to know me, to know that I am the Lord.
They will be my people and I will be their God.
Our God is different, and surprising. You would think that an all-powerful cosmic force would push His enemies into the ground but he isn't like that. OUR God says to let your light so shine among men (all of them) that they may see your good works and praise your God in heaven.
They will know we are Christians by our love.
God wants to reveal his true nature to the world through how we treat the world. PrayerLESSness on behalf of those who oppose us means we lose an opportunity to look like our Father in Heaven, and even bigger, we lose an opportunity to be a part of the pouring out of His blessing on earth to a people who look like sons and daughters. PrayerFULLness for those who oppose us makes us more like Christ, and positions us to be strong enough to carry the glory of our Father through the earth.
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When we were encouraged, exhorted, to pray without ceasing, it is because of His great love for us, the immeasurable gifts He has in store for those who love Him. We have access, day and night, to the power of the God of the Universe. Cultivate a lifestyle of constant, recurring prayer. The costs of prayerlessness are far too high.
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