For our last Back to School Bible Boost, I admit my heart is turned in one direction: East. That’s because our son left home today, driving East to life on his own. Ironically, as I read through the ABCs of Praying for Students, I’m about to turn the last page and find: ZEAL. As life takes our loved ones to places uncertain and unknown, my heart leans hard into prayer, and I want more than one and done” ways of praying. The Bible doesn’t just caution against laziness in life; it cautions us against laziness in prayer.
As my loved one drives across empty miles, my thoughts easily prompt me to pray. If school started for you a few (or more than a few) weeks ago, you probably prayed like a mad woman on the first day too, or maybe for the first week. But what about once there’s a new normal? Is it realistic to “pray without ceasing?” Is that what God means in 1 Thessalonians?
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV).
It’s not usually practical to push everything aside and stay in a posture of prayer without interruption. The phrase “without ceasing” actually means the action doesn’t take an intermission. But the larger context and other scripture informs the way we apply this directive. Praying without stopping points to what we think of ourselves and what we think of God.
The Pray-or’s Zeal
I need God. I’m depending on Him for provision, direction, and comfort for me and those I love. This is the case whether they drive off in a school bus, walk into a new co-op group, or get in a Jeep to drive across the country. We are desperately dependent on God and we know it.
Because of this, I repeatedly go to Him as a “pray-or” and regularly pour out my life to Him. He can take it. I can keep coming, and He wants me to keep coming and “pray without ceasing.” My mom and my mentors have prayed regularly and repeatedly for me for years. Without intermission. We don’t pray once for a need, check it off, and move on. Or do we?
- What need in your life is turning your heart towards God right now?
- How do the needs of those you love help you know God more?
I want God. He knows every detail of my life, but like I want to hear the things of my child’s life from my child, He wants to hear the things of my life from me. As I practice a habit of prayer, the bond I have with Him deepens, and our familiarity stays fresh. If the framework for my day puts God at center, it becomes more natural to respond with gratitude, praise, and interaction with the One bringing it all together. Knowing I depend on Him makes me want Him. The Psalmist put it this way, “I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land.” (Psalm 143:6)
The Listener’s Zeal
God stays on. Thankfully, God is not worn out by long school year prayers, long cross country travel prayers, long chronic pain prayers, long marriage prayers, long prayers for salvation, or long middle of the night prayers. God is truly “longsuffering” so He can absorb our regular, repeated, relentless prayers. Prayers that don’t stop. He hears and keeps hearing with a zealous ear. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (1 John 5:14)
- Who is in your life as a “pray-or” who prays and keeps praying for you?
- Who is in your life who you pray and keep praying for as their “pray-or”?
The danger of one and done
I want more than one and done prayer. If we pray once, check it off, and move on, we risk living without dependence on God. We risk decreasing our desire for Him. We risk missing out on the active provision of the God who can supply all our needs and has the staying power to keep supplying. More than receiving benefits from Him, falling into one and done laziness means we move away from the true posture of a prayerful life: walking with God.
“We all need a reason to emerge from the chains of binge watching, scrolling, time wasting, and ignoring hot heart living. Most motivations fail eventually, and we learn to want more meaningful reasons to get up and off the couch, put down the device, or walk out the door. In the end, the only reason worth living with a hot heart is Jesus.” ( from The ABCs of Praying for Students devotion on ZEAL)
The distress of prayer need overload
Are you tempted not to pray at all because you just can’t pray for it all? Are you on overload? How do we manage the constant flow of needs on Facebook, in small group, on Instagram, at work, and in our homes? Can we pray for it all?
God knows it all. Tools like the Pray the Word Journal and the monthly prayer calendar help us manage the flow of needs, but mostly, we need a zealous heart for prayer. We need a heart that says no to “lazy” and yes to praying without quitting the habit and without one and done.
School is well underway, and by the time most of you read this, my son will be in another state. We can’t afford to pray the prayers of “one and done.” Loved ones need zealous pray-ors who keep praying all week, all year, for years, for a lifetime.
