This past weekend within worship we focused on prayer. It’s foundational to Christian discipleship; it’s something we are encouraged to do throughout Scripture; and it’s something we practice often in worship.
But then what does it mean to “pray always”?
In our reading from 1 Thessalonians, Paul encouraged the people to do just that (along with a whole list of other things). So that does that mean that we need to keep our hands folded all day? (would be challenging to get anything else done!) Not quite. In the words of Ronald Rolheiser, author of our summer Book Club book Sacred Fire, he writes:
“To pray always invites us to live our lives against a certain horizon. It does not necessarily mean to stop work and go to formal prayer, important though that is at times. The point is that we need to do everything within the context of a certain awareness, like a married man who goes on a business trip and who, in the midst of a demanding schedule of meetings and social engagements, is somehow always anchored in a certain consciousness that he has a spouse and children at home. Despite distance and various preoccupations, he knows that he is ‘married always.’ That awareness, more than the occassional phone call home, is what keeps him anchored in [his relationship.]” (175-176).
In essence, with our relationship with God, it’s the same. We “pray always” by approaching our life with the awareness that we live in relationship with God. And with that awareness at the forefront of our minds, then how we live is transformed and becomes a mode of prayer.
So this week, anchor yourself in an awarenes of your consistent relationship with God. Though we may falter at times, our God is faithful and generous, and our God is always seeking to live in relationship with us – not just at certain times of the day, but throughout our days.