Pray without ceasing.

Pray without ceasing. - 1 Thessalonians 5:17 

For those of us who have been fortunate enough to be in love with someone very special, we can recall what it was like during the few weeks after we first met. It's impossible to be with that person every moment of every day, but they are still on our mind, day and night. Thoughts of this person pervade our entire life, even when they are not around. We find our mind drifting even while we are at work, wondering what they are doing at any moment. We imagine what our next moments together will be like. We dream of ways to surprise them or make them happy, and we can't wait to see them again and make them smile. We store up in our mind all the things we will tell them when we see them, and can't wait to hear what they were up to while we were apart. When we have joy, we wish they were there to share it, and when we have difficulty, we wish they were there to help us through. It seems like they are all we can think about, but it's wonderful and amazing! 

Hold this picture of just how much that person occupied your attention. It was as if we carried that person with us everywhere we went, keeping them in our thoughts with every passing moment. They were all we wanted and all we desired. Everything else that happened in our life was just a distraction, keeping us from what we really wanted. 

Now, we have an idea of what Paul is talking about. We cannot pray every second of every day any more than we could have been with that person every moment. But it is possible to love Jesus Christ so much that we carry Him with us wherever we go, just as we did with that true love. In this context, Paul is not talking about prayer as an action; He is talking about it as an attitude. It is an attitude that places Jesus above everything else in our life. Even as we work, spend time with friends or relax at home, He is ever present with us. 

Unlike our earthly loves, which start out like a flame but often fade over time, our love for Jesus may start small but will grow into a wild fire if we fan the flames. For that to happen, we need to nurture our relationship by remembering Him in everything we do. We need to let Jesus occupy our heart and mind every moment we are awake. If we adopt this unceasing attitude of prayerfulness which Paul describes, our love for Christ and the joy we gain will eclipse anything we have ever known before.