Pray Constantly

Pray constantly. - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

I hate praying out loud. H.A.T.E. it. Okay, well, “hate” might be a bit strong now, because my husband has been forcing me to pray out loud more often (bless him), so I’ve had some exposure therapy.

The irony is, he tells me I’m fairly good at it. I never would have pegged prayer as one of my spiritual gifts, but now he has me wondering. (But don’t you go making me pray out loud at MC or whatever!) Anyway….

For all my discomfort with praying out loud, I generally have a fairly constant (inner) prayer life, which I didn’t even know until I tried to give God the silent treatment.

I’m just now coming out of a funk where I was really frustrated and irritated with God for not removing a battle that just keeps resurfacing. For weeks, I had made up my mind that I was going to freeze God out. If He was going to be silent, I would be silent (wow, that sounds even more toddler-like when I type it out).

The really annoying thing was, I would find myself talking to Him at random times throughout the day. A half-thought here, a couple sentences there….and then I would catch myself. Dang it! I was doing it again! Praying! When I told myself I wasn’t gonna!

(Side note: I am a firm believer that our God is big enough to handle our frustrations and doubts, even when they include screaming, cursing, or silence. That being said, I’m not excusing my little pouting routine. I’m just letting you know where I was at the moment.)

If you’d asked me several weeks ago if I “pray constantly,” I would have said there was no way that was true. But when I can’t even ignore God without automatically, unconsciously chatting with Him during my day, it makes me realize how much I actually do engage in prayer.

And that is weirdly comforting, because I know that God is faithful when I am not. Even when I am frustrated and discouraged, the depth of relationship I have with Him is not just erased and forgotten. However quiet He may be at the moment, He is still there- hearing every word, working His will in my life, waiting for me to get over myself and come back Home.

Pray constantly, because it builds relationship with our Father, who knows us better than we will ever understand. Pray constantly because in the ebbs and flows of that relationship, prayer itself will become a constant. Pray constantly, because there are times when He will be the only one you will be able to talk to, or not talk to, who will completely understand either way. Pray constantly, because God tells us to keep talking to him, because He knows it’s something we absolutely need. Pray constantly.

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Blessings, 

Connie Hartman