Let's talk about the "P" word

I’m not one to back down on promises, and I gave you my word in an earlier post that John Piper’s book When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy would be discussed at a later date. Whelp, the time has come.

Prayer is a powerful thing. I think sometimes, myself included, forget just how life-changing it can be. I have a lot of thoughts about prayer, but so does John Piper. In fact he has devoted pages to it in this book. I’m going to let John do the talking today and quote a number of paragraphs from chapter ten titled The Practice of Prayer in the Fight for Joy. There were many other outstanding points made in this chapter, but here is just a taste:

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1 Thess. 5:14-18)
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What then is the key to this rejoicing, or this delight, which sustains the life of fruit-bearing love? Verse 17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” And verse 18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” So the answer seems to be that continual prayer and thanksgiving is a key to joy in God that makes a person durable and fruitful in relation to all kinds of people. Therefore one biblical key to maintaining joy in God and his Word is to pray without ceasing.

WHAT DOES “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING” MEAN?

If we are going to be fruit-bearing people, and not wither under the pressures of idle, fainthearted, weak, and hurtful people, then we must fight, as 1 Thessalonians 5:16 says, to “rejoice always” or to “delight…in the word of the LORD…day and night” (Ps. 1:2). And to do that, as verse 17 says, we need to “pray without ceasing.” Which leads to the question of what that means.

Praying without ceasing means at least three things. First, it means that there is a spirit of dependence that should permeate all we do. This is the very spirit and essence of prayer. So, even when we are not speaking consciously to God, there is a deep, abiding dependence on him that is woven into the heart of faith. In that sense, we “pray” or have the spirit of prayer continuously.

Second—and I think this is what Paul has in mind most immediately—praying without ceasing means praying repeatedly and often. I base this on the use of the word “without ceasing” (adialeiptos) in Romans 1:9, where Paul says, “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing [adialeiptos] I mention you.” Now we can be sure that Paul did not mention the Romans every minute of his waking life, or even every minute of his prayers. He prayed about many other things. But he mentioned them over and over, and often. So “without ceasing” doesn’t mean that, verbally or mentally, we have to be speaking prayers every minute of the day in the fight for joy. It means we should pray over and over, and often. Our default mental state should be: “O God, help….”

Third, praying without ceasing means not giving up on prayer. Don’t ever come to a point in your life where you cease to pray at all. Don’t abandon the God f hope and say, “There’s no use praying.” Jesus is very jealous for us to learn this lesson. One of his parables is introduced by the words, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). He knew our experience in prayer would tempt us to quit altogether. So he along with the apostle Paul, says, Never lose heart. Go on praying. Don’t cease.

So from the context of 1 Thessalonians 5 I say that the key to “rejoice always” is to “pray without ceasing.” Lean on God all the time for the miracle of joy in life. Never give up looking to him for help. Come to him repeatedly during the day and often. Make your default mental state a Godward longing for all that you need, especially for spiritual desires.”

Thank you, John Piper.