Paul's Letter

  

Stoplights send a message: stop, go, stop, go.  Elevator lights do the same thing.  Alarm clocks tell us when to go to bed and when to stop sleeping. We live stop-and-go lives.

The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Christians at Thessolonica, suggests something else. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.” (I Thess. 5:16-18 NIV)  Another version says, “pray without ceasing.” His instruction encourages sustained joy, prayer, and gratitude.  No stopping of these things, just constant rejoicing, praying, thanksgiving.

This is radical.

Practically speaking, we are busy people.  I used to think this passage presented a conflict of interests, but over time I’ve changed my mind. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s time to revisit the idea that life itself is prayer, although in an active rather than passive sense. Also that disciplines of joy, prayer, and gratitude support one another.

We often define a human being as a body, a soul, and a spirit – three separate entities. Perhaps an individual’s personhood is more integrated than we think, and these elements overlap almost perfectly.  Perhaps we really can pray with our whole lives – our actions, attitudes, and thoughts as well what we intentionally verbalize to God in worship and prayer.  Holistic prayer. 

Perhaps preparing special time-intensive foods for dinner is a form of prayer if the process is bathed in gratitude to God for the doctor who suggested it, the man who will eat it, and the healing it can produce in his miraculous body.  Perhaps bearing pain or inconvenience, or fostering hope in a despairing friend, are forms of prayer if we joyfully recognize God in the situation, depend on Him for strength, and submit to His purposes.

If living like this is praying, then prayer need not be stop-and-go - it can become a lifestyle, as Paul recorded so long ago, inspired by the Holy Spirit.