Pray Continually

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually.
 
PRAYER is certainly a mark of our relationship with God. From Genesis 4:26 when men began to call on the name of the LORD, prayer has been a necessary means to worship God, seek his counsel, call on his provision and reject sin. What does it mean to pray continually?
   Perhaps we can understand this when we examine our own prayer lives. When do you pray? Only in an emergency? When you have a big need? Or do you pray on a regular basis? Are you only praying for things to help  you? Or do you also pray thankfulness and praise to God? Are you praying confession of sins and faith in God’s forgiveness? And do you pray, “Guide me, Lord God, to teach me what you want me to know.” Continual prayer is the means to talk with and listen to God in all occasions. You recognize prayer as essential to your life and not an emergency response to your needs.
   Jesus taught us to always pray with the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. To pray continually is a persistent effort to seek God’s will for your life. You can repeatedly ask him for something you desire that is within Kingdom values. Continual prayer, too, for your family’s care is necessary because so many things threaten us. Pray continually each day, week, month with a regular timetable for particular people.
   Continual prayer is necessary to keep us from evil. Jesus said it this way in Luke 21:36 “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” The devil does not quit tempting us. We should continually pray, “Lead me not into temptation but delver me from evil.” (Matthew 6:13)
   Each aspect of our life can be covered in prayer. That’s why God helps us pray: Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. To pray in the Spirit means that the Spirit helps us when we pray and prays on our behalf: Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And the Father, who searches our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. The Spirit makes the Father accessible.
          To pray continually means you have a heart and mind to devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2) Be thankful God has made a way for you to speak to and listen to him whenever you call on the name of the Lord.