17 Pray without ceasing.
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Prayer is not a one-off activity, it must continue; it is the lifeline of the believer. Our opening Scripture instructs the believer to pray without ceasing, which means that we are meant to pray continually, non-stop. Prayer is what we have to do non-stop; just like you eat daily, you need to pray at all times. Some believers start out praying and continue to pray, but all of a sudden stop praying due to challenges or fleshly or carnal resistance posed by the flesh and other forms of spiritual attacks shot at them by the devil. Understand that ceasing to pray is not the solution to challenges, you have to continue to pray to overcome those challenges. Don’t lose your prayer fire. When prayer fire is lost, it becomes very difficult to get it back. So, don’t lose it! The Word of God tells us how to maintain prayer fire or tempo; it tells us to pray non-stop. If you stop praying, picking up again will be quite challenging because you’ll start building resistance or inertia in the flesh. Now, to push that wall down, it might take a week-long retreat or two days or three days of retreats or you have to get some people around you to pray you up, or jumpstart you in prayer; you will need some prayer assistance to kick start again. So, it is important to continue to pray. You don’t stop praying.
Paul the Apostle in Ephesians 1:15-16 said these words by the Holy Ghost “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.” Note what the apostle Paul said, “I cease not…” So, it is important that you pray without ceasing. In Colossians 1:9, Apostle Paul said, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Did you see the expression “cease not to pray”? Again, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:18, it says “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” Praying always, always praying. This further affirms that prayer is something that must continue, non-stop. In Luke 18:1, the Lord Jesus told the parable to this end “…that men ought always to pray and not to faint.” You ought always to pray. Therefore, to keep the tempo of prayer, you must give yourself to prayer non-stop. Beloved, the only way to not stop praying is to continue praying.
My Solid Front (Confession):
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I give myself to praying continually, non-stop. I am helped by the Holy Spirit! Amen!
Further Meditation:
Psalms 65:1-2; Zechariah 12:10.