Question:
The Bible says, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” How is this possible? I have a husband and three children and a home to care for.
Answer:
Thank you for your inquiry. There are many people in the same situation as you; in fact, some with more than three children. I understand very well your dilemma, and Jesus understands also. He came down here to rescue us from this sinful world and to experience what life is like here on earth. Therefore, we can trust Him and the counsel given through His messenger, Ellen White.
“Whatever is to be done at His command may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 333.
“Christ commands, ‘Pray without ceasing’; that is, keep the mind uplifted to God, the source of all power and efficiency.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 510.
The question that might be asked is, what is prayer? Prayer is communicating with God, talking to Him as to a friend, and He talking to you. So when He is directing you in your work, and you are carrying out His will in your life, you are in an attitude of prayer.
For instance, when you are preparing food for your family and you fix the food to the best of your ability, according to the health rules that God has given us in the inspired pages, you really are in an attitude of prayer. Your mind is continually trying to please God, and He is leading you.
“Christ has urged that His people pray without ceasing. This does not mean that we should always be upon our knees, but that prayer is to be as the breath of the soul. Our silent requests, wherever we may be, are to be ascending unto God, and Jesus our Advocate pleads in our behalf, bearing up with the incense of His righteousness our requests to the Father.
“The Lord Jesus loves His people, and when they put their trust in Him, depending wholly upon Him, He strengthens them. He will live through them, giving them the inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, imparting to the soul a vital transfusion of Himself. He acts through their faculties and causes them to choose His will and to act out His character. With the apostle Paul they then may say, ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20). . . .
“The Lord will not leave His afflicted, tried children to be the sport of Satan’s temptations. It is your privilege to trust in Jesus. The heavens are full of rich blessings. . . . We have not because we ask not, or because we do not pray in faith, believing that we shall be blessed with the special influence of the Holy Spirit. To the true seeker through the mediation of Christ the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit are imparted.” That I May Know Him, 78.
“The injunction of the Saviour is, ‘Pray without ceasing.’ The heart is to be continually going out in desire for the presence and grace of Jesus, that the soul may have divine enlightenment and heavenly wisdom.” The Signs of the Times, December 16, 1889.
So, praying without ceasing is to be continually doing God’s will—in dressing, eating, communicating with friends, business, doing home duties, or whatever your occupation is. And when you are caring for the children—God’s special Heritage—and trying to raise them according to God’s plan, you are definitely fulfilling God’s desire, and you would be continually in an attitude of prayer.