Praying Without Ceasing

.... As you learn the Scriptures and pursue God in your prayer times, you’ll become accustomed to discerning His voice. Soon (if it has not happened already,) you’ll be able to perceive Him speaking to you at all times, even as you go about your daily business. Throughout the day, the Holy Spirit will offer you counsel in all of your decisions, just as Jesus foretold of Him:

.... "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you . . . He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

(John 14:26; 16:13)

.... God has designed man in such a way that we are able to assimilate information three times faster than we can articulate it. For example, we may be driving our cars and carrying on a conversation with a passenger simultaneously; with a little multi-tasking, we can watch the road and keep up with our friend at the same time. But even so, this is just two-thirds of what we are capable of doing. We can keep the remaining third of our hearts and minds locked into the Lord in a ‘listening’ mode, to receive His thoughts and guidance along the way. He may be guiding us in the discussion, for example, to insure that we are answering wisely.

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.... Now let’s combine this concept with some thoughts from our previous two modules, in which we addressed the Oracles of God:

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.... Just as God constantly speaks to us through impress- ions, which are reflections of His Divine subjectivity, our own spirits can speak the same language in a constant conversation with His Spirit. The understanding of this 'heavenly language' in our minds can become so fluent that we are sensitive to His counsel at all times, able to discern His intentions very quickly, and able to respond to Him in the same spiritual language (and also, to respond to others in plain English). And in this manner the Scripture is fulfilled which says:

.... "pray without ceasing."

(1Thessalonians 5:17)

.... It is important for us to be in touch with God at all times so we can be led by His Spirit, and this is the practical understanding behind that constant communication (Romans 8:14). But of course, this ongoing mode of prayer falls short of our fullest prayer potential, since our attention is still divided.

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.... This brings us back to the importance of our personal prayer times, in which our attention is entirely devoted to God. For alone in His presence, without distraction from this world, the final one-third of our perception can be multiplied times three, as we give Him our complete and undivided attention. And this is where the deeper issues of our lives will usually be wrought and defined.

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Daily Bible Reading: Acts 27