“Connected: Stop, Drop, and…”
Rom. 1:8-10; 1 Thess. 5:12-28
Fire safety campaigns have done a great job of helping people be prepared for emergencies. Their campaign slogan of “Stop, Drop, and Roll” has been indelibly burned into the minds of children so in the event of an emergency doing so is likely to be automatic for them.
The Apostle Paul had a similar slogan and goal for living. He wrote the Thessalonians to encourage new converts in the midst of their trials, to instruct them in godly living, and to assure them of their secure future. At the end of his letter he gives them a number of miscellaneous, but no less important, instructions. That’s when he offered his slogan (vs. 17): “Pray continually.” Stop, Drop, and Pray. He wanted it burned into the minds of Christ’s followers so it would be automatic and natural for them to pray. But just what does it mean to ‘pray continually?’ A staff member asked me that several years ago and at the time I thought, “I really need to get a handle on that.” At long last I’m ready, with the help of the Spirit, to consider the concept; so this morning we’re examining what continual praying is all about.
Continual praying is, first of all, AN ACTION. Certainly Paul does not mean that we spend 24/7 on our knees praying. Even he didn’t do that. Rather, the word carries the idea of CONSISTENCY. The word ‘continual’ implies "constantly recurring," not continuously occurring. It refers to being regular and constant in the observance of stated times of prayer. We are to be regular in, have stated times for prayer. Prayer is to be a part of our devotions, our meals, our meetings, our family times, our rising and retiring each day; they are part of our trellis we talked about last week. Paul preached it often. Pray, TAKE HOLD OF GOD, IN ALL THE SITUATIONS, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND GATHERINGS OF LIFE. I’ve listed some verses at the end of the outline in the bulletin (Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2). But for now recall, for example, his words to the Philippians (4:6): “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Historically, THE DAILY – OR DIVINE – OFFICE of prayer has served to assist Christians in developing this consistency. Christians pray at set times throughout the day. As Robert Benson wrote in his book “In Constant Prayer” (a major reading during my Sabbatical), “For thousands of years, the daily office has been a primary way to hold ourselves in closer communion with the one who made us. It is a way to sanctify our days and our hours, our work and our love, our very life itself…Daily hours of prayer, in fact, were chief among the things that held Christian communities together during the early years of the Church and the years of persecution.” (1) The Daily Office not only provides a framework for individuals to be consistent in prayer, it also provides for prayer to be unceasing. For example, picture Christians praying between 11:00 am and noon, from time zone to time zone around the world. There would literally be prayer without ceasing; prayer AROUND THE CLOCK – AROUND THE WORLD.
But, yes, IT’S HARD TO BE REGULAR AND CONSISTENT IN PRAYER. Consistent prayer is sometimes like pulling weeds – we don’t like to do it, it’s not fun or exhilarating, and it gets boring; it can even be hard work. But unless we consistently pull the weeds, the garden will not be as productive and abundant. Unless we consistently pray, our lives and the lives of those whom we love will not be as productive and abundant. We also like to use the excuse that consistent praying becomes merely habitual – it loses its meaning. I ask you – what routines do you have each day? How you get up in the morning, how and when you shower, how you brush your teeth, how you get to school or work, how and when you work out…your list is long. Are those routines always exciting? Do they lose their meaning or value? As Benson puts it, “We who will get up and walk, or even run miles in the mornings…we who will haul ourselves through our neighborhoods in the dark to make sure that we have the box scores as quick as we can…will not, cannot, do not rise in the morning to greet the dawn with a song of praise on our lips, as did those who went before us. We who will stay up late to watch the televised version of the news that we heard on our drive home at six, who will TiVo enough must-see television that we have to stay up late to keep up, who will not go to sleep without reading a novel, who will burn the candle at both ends and in the middle if we can figure how to get it lit, will not end our days with praise and worship and confession and blessing.” (2)
Consistency in prayer also includes SPONTANEITY in prayer. Again, as Benson points out, “You do not become a person of prayer and then decide to pray. It works the other way around. If you say enough prayers, you may yet become a person of prayer. But you will not become one if you do not pray. One of the things that will happen if I say the office is this: it can trick me into becoming a person of prayer.” (3) Paul’s CONSISTENCY ENABLED HIM TO BE SPONTANEOUS in prayer. Often, as he was writing the churches, he would break into prayer. Again, I’ve listed some passages at the end of your outline. (1 Thess. 3:10; 2 Thess. 1:11; Eph. 1:16; 3:14). Paul couldn’t preach and teach about God, or express concern for the people in the churches, without breaking into prayer. It’s a pattern we need to emulate and develop. For example, instead of saying “I’ll pray for you,” stop right then and pray. Instead of saying to someone, “Have a safe trip,” pray with them right then. Instead of expressing concern to someone, offer up a prayer of concern right then. Instead of ending a meeting or gathering with “See you next time,” pray a prayer for safety and blessing.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “But that’s just not me.” It can be. Begin with
consistency – it will lead you to spontaneity. THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP IN LEARNING TO PRAY WITH SPONTANEITY IS JUST REGULARLY PRAY.
Continual praying is not only an action – it is also AN ATTITUDE. The word ‘continually’ means to be PERSISTENT, to pray perseveringly and earnestly. Acts 12:5 records that “…prayer was made earnestly of the Church of God for him.” The same word is used for Jesus praying at Gethsemane (Lk. 22:44): “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” The original word meant, literally, stretch-out-edly. It has to do with INTENSITY AND EARNESTNESS. Through Jeremiah God said (29:13), “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Paul wrote (Rom. 15:30 NKJV) “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me…” ‘Strive together with me…” is agonizio, from which we get our word agony. It means throwing the whole soul into praying. Noah Webster defines the word "strive" as meaning "To make efforts; to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard; applicable to exertions of body or mind." It carries the idea of "contending for a prize" and pictures an athlete training and even exerting himself for his cause. This is what Paul meant when he said to strive in prayer.
Luke, in chapter 11 of his Gospel, teaches the same thing. He records Jesus teaching the disciples the Lord’s Prayer. Then he states that Jesus told them a parable about a persistent SINCERE neighbor. In Palestine people traveled late at night to avoid the extreme heat of the day. So Jesus tells a story about one such traveler. It was late at night; the town was boarded up and the people bedded down. As we might say today, the sidewalks were rolled up. The weary traveler came to the house of a friend and knocked on the door. Now in the East hospitality was considered a sacred duty and offering bread was a sacramental experience. So bread was always offered as part of that hospitality. But this friend, this host, is out of bread. So he decides to impose on his neighbor friend; he goes and knocks on his
door. Keep in mind that the Palestinian houses had two levels. The loft was where the family slept - usually huddled together to keep warm. The main floor housed the animals for the night. The door was bolted with a heavy piece of wood or metal. To answer a knock, therefore, takes an effort. But since hospitality was an expectation of the community, the man of the house would crawl over his family, tip-toe through the animals, lift up the bolt and see what was needed. The point comes in verse 8: “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness (persistence) he will get up an give him as much as he needs.” The host knows that the friend at the door will keep knocking because he is only asking for what is right and good - and he expects the host to do what is right and good.
In our instant society where election outcomes are known before polls are closed, where hot meals can be micro-waved in seconds, where news is reported the moment it breaks, where communications can be shared around the world as quickly as the tap on a computer key, we are not accustomed to delays. We think that if we prayed yesterday the answer ought to have arrived today. Preston Taylor, in Exodus: Escape from Evil, has reworked the story of The Three Bears. Daddy bear arrives home, grabs his bowl and growls, “Someone has eaten my soup!” Baby Bear picks up his bowl and cries, “And someone has eaten my soup, too!” Then Mama Bear barks back: “You two stop your complaining! I’ve not even poured the soup!” God will pour the soup when He is ready! He will answer when the time is right - and He decides when the time is right! In the meantime we sincerely persevere so GOD CAN PREPARE US FOR THE ANSWER. Remember Jacob wrestling all night with the angel of God? The angel was ready to leave but Jacob would not let go: “I will not let you go until you bless me.” God already knew Jacob’s sincerity – it was Jacob who needed to be convinced of the importance of the blessing! Through his wrestling he discovered how much he needed and wanted it. Or, again, Jesus in Gethsemane: his blood sweating was not to test God’s sincerity, but Jesus’: “Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” Jesus’ point in the parable is that if a friend, who would rather not get up and answer, would do so because of expectations placed on him, how much more will our Father in heaven, who wants to give, respond to our earnest , intense, shameless knocking? Being a sincere, prayerful nuisance pays off. To pray continually involves an action and an attitude.
Continual praying also involves AN ATMOSPHERE. The action of consistency and the attitude of persistence eventually fill our heart and mind with THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD'S PRESENCE. Someone put it, we are to "keep the receiver off the hook" and be in touch with God so that our praying is part of a long conversation that is not broken. (4) God is always present with us so we can have an ongoing conversation with Him. This leads us into the habit of referring everything to Him; whatever we are doing, or whatever the situation or circumstance in which we find ourselves, we refer to Him.
I appreciate the picture N. T. Wright paints to help explain the idea of consciously living in the presence of God. He says it’s LIKE SPEAKING IN OUR MOTHER TONGUE. The more we hear and speak our native language, the less we have to stop and think about all the laws of grammar and speech. Speaking our native tongue becomes second nature; it’s our natural way of speaking. (5) Another way to think of it is to think of the analogy of love. I truly love Barb; I have an unceasing awareness of her. This does not mean I consciously think of her 24/7, but her “presence” is constant. All my decisions are made with her in mind. All my life is oriented around my love for her. (6) If I love Jesus most deeply of all, His presence will be constant and all my life be oriented around my love for Him.
Christian faith always turns our thoughts away from ourselves and to God. So does prayer. Prayer is fellowship with God, the realization of the presence of our Father. Prayer was as natural to Paul as breathing. If we live in dependence upon God we will naturally move into prayer as often as Paul did. WE CAN LIVE IN THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER. When we become aware of this constant presence of God, we will begin praying more often – bringing God into our conversations, our activities, our work, our play. It will greatly impact our conversations, our activities, our work, our play. Michael Casey said it poignantly: “Prayer is larger than any of us. It is less a question of bringing prayer into our hearts than of bringing our hearts into prayer; not drawing water from the sea to fill a bath, but being immersed in an immense ocean and becoming one with it.” (7)
When we are immersed with God prayer is always at work. For nearly 25 years, Jerry Moore was the head football coach at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. During one stretch of eight years, his team won three consecutive national championships and seven Southern Conference championships. From 2007 to 2010, his team won 26 straight conference games. A devout Christian, he formed the habit—after every game and after everyone had left—of walking through the locker room, touching every locker, and praying for each player. Every week, he picked one player, sat at that student's locker, thought about him and then got down on his knees and prayed for him. (8) That’s praying continually.
Each of us is at a different point in our prayer journeys. Most of us want to be, and need to be, further down the road. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. As A. J. Gordon said, "You can do more than pray after you have prayed; but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed." (9) Wherever you are, take the next step. Whether you need to develop the action of consistency, or the attitude of persistence, or the atmosphere of God’s presence – take the next step. Whatever happens the rest of this day, or tomorrow, or this week – stop, drop, and get connected. Stop, drop, and “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18) Do it until it’s so burned into your mind that it becomes your mother tongue.
(1)Robert Benson, In Constant Prayer, Thomas Nelson, © 2008 by Robert Benson, p. 9,23
(2)Ibid, p. 63
(3)Ibid, p. 97
(4)Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament - Volume 2.
(5)New Testament for Everyone – Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians. From LOGOS
(6)The image comes from http://ref.ly/o/prcm32ttt/195950?length=644 via @Logos
(7)A Guide to Prayer, Reuben P. Job & Norman Shawchuck, © 1983 by The Upper room, p. 279 (from Michael Casey – Toward God)
(8)www.preaching.com
(9)A. J. Gordon – source unknown
