There is no habit that we should
more sedulously form, by J. R. Miller. What place should
prayer have in a Christian's life? Should we pray little or
much? Should we confine our praying
to certain days, Sundays, for example, or to certain hours
or moments of our days, mornings, for example? Should we pray only
about certain things, certain affairs, certain portions of
our life? Are there things we have no permission
to take to God in prayer? Should we pray only in certain
places, in our accustomed room at home, or in places set apart
for divine worship? Is there any place where we may
not pray? There is a verse of Paul's which
seems to answer all these questions. Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians
5.17. That means pray always and everywhere. There is nothing we may not take
to God in prayer asking for His help. There is no hour of the
day when we may not turn to God and find Him ready to hear and
bless us. The gates of prayer are never
shut. To pray without ceasing is to
do everything with prayer. This does not mean that every
piece of work we undertake must be begun with a formal act of
prayer, stopping, kneeling down, and offering a spoken petition.
To pray without ceasing is to have the heart always in converse
with God. It is to live so near to God
that we can talk with Him wherever we go and seek His help, His
wisdom, His guidance. God is our Father with infinite
love in His heart for us, ready and eager to help us and bless
us in every way. true prayer is not a matter of
times and places. Wherever we go, we are with God. Whatever we are doing, our hearts
may go out to Him. Prayer is the Christian's vital
breath, the Christian's native air. There is no habit that we
should more sedulously form than that of talking with God about
everything we do. We are often told that we should
begin every day with prayer. That is very needful and beautiful.
The first face our eyes see in the morning should be Christ's.
His too should be the first voice we hear, and to Him our first
words should be spoken. Ten minutes in the morning, yes,
two minutes, spent really with Christ, will change all our day
for us. It is often said that we should
count that day lost in which no kindness is done, no deed
of love to anyone, no help given. But Sadaphah is a day without
prayer. It is a day without God, without
heaven's light shining into it, a day unblessed. That morning
you forgot to pray is a sad morning for you. We should form the habit
of praying at every step as we go along through the day. That
was part of Paul's meaning when he said, Whatever you do, in
word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. He would
have us include every word we speak as well as every deed we
do. Think what it would mean to have
every word that passes our lips winged and blessed with prayer,
always to breathe a little prayer before we speak and as we speak. This would put heavenly sweetness
into all our speech. It would make all our words kindly,
loving, inspiring words, words that would edify and minister
grace to those who hear. We can scarcely think of one
using bitter words, backbiting words, unholy words, if his heart
is always full of prayer, if he has trained himself to always
pray before he speaks. But we are to do all our deeds
also in the name of the Lord Jesus. That means that we should
do everything for Him to please Him. If we could get this lesson
learned, if we would really pray without ceasing, how beautiful
our lives would be, how well we would do all our work. only
think of a man in business doing all his day's business in a spirit
of prayer, breathing a little prayer as he makes a bargain,
as he writes a business letter, as he talks with other men. Think
of a woman amid her household cares, taking everything to God
for His blessing, for His approval, for His direction. These are
not by any means impossible suppositions. Indeed, this is the way a Christian
is to live, should always live, doing all in the name of the
Lord Jesus. In everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4.6. Pray at all
times and on every occasion. Ephesians 6.18. It is well for
us to learn this lesson, to take everything to God in prayer,
to pray as we go from task to task. we may form the habit of
putting up little sentence prayers continually, when you feel an
inclination to speak bitterly or to answer sharply, when you
have been stung by another's speech or act, when you are tempted
to refuse a request for help, to do some selfish thing, to
pass by a human need, to speak an untruth. Lift up your heart
in the prayer, Jesus, help me to do your will. Or if you meet
a sudden temptation and are in danger of being swept away, look
up and cry, Jesus, save me. We do not know what we miss by
leaving God out of so much of our life. We often wonder why
we fail, why so little comes of our efforts, why we do not
get along better with people, why we are not happy, why joy
is so lacking in our experience, why we are so easily fretted
and vexed, why we are so discontented, why we fall so easily into surliness
and bad temper. It is because we cease to pray. It is impossible to tell of the
blessing of such a spirit and habit of prayer. Those who have
not learned to pray without ceasing have no conception of what they
are missing. If we had all learned this lesson,
what a company of overcoming Christians we would be! The world
would have little power over us. We would tread it under our
feet. We would be strong where we are
now so weak. We would be victorious over temptation
where now we fail so sadly. If you knew that Christ was always
actually walking with you, how strong you would be. There is
no lesson we need to take more to heart than this lesson of
unceasing prayer. All the best things of Christian
living are the fruit of silent meditation. Life is not easy
for any of us. We can live nobly, purely, Christly,
only by being much with Christ. We will rob ourselves of divine
blessing, of beauty of character, of power in service, if we fail
to make room in all our busy days for quiet retreats from
the noise and strife where we may sit at Christ's feet to hear
His words and lie on His bosom that we may absorb His Spirit
to prepare us for the toil of the day.