Pray without ceasing
Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17)
“Pray without ceasing,” says Paul,
Meaning that all mean
Should lift to God their desires
At all times,
In all places,
And in all situations;
Mean too that all men
Are to expect all things from Him,
Give praise for all things to Him,
For to us God gives
Unfailing reasons to praise and pray.
Such constancy in prayer
Applies to private devotion,
But not to the public prayers
We offer in the church…
“True temples of God,” says Paul,
“Are we.” Do you wish to prayer
In God’s temple? Pray in yourself …
Because of the goal of prayer
Is to arouse and bear our hearts
To God (praising and beseeching),
The essence of prayer is set
In mind and heart; or better said;
Prayer is an emotion of the heart within,
Poured out, laid bare before God,
Searcher of hearts….
Pray you may in other places too,
But in prayer is something secret,
Lodged chiefly in the heart,
Requiring tranquility
Far from all teeming cares….
And so speaking and singing
Must be tied to the heart’s affection,
Must serve it….
The glory of God ought to shine
In the various parts of our bodies,
And especially in the tongue,
Created to sing, speak forth,
Tell, proclaim
The praise of God….
Private or public—
Tongue-prayers without the mind are not heard by God.
In fact the force and ardor
Of the mind must outstrip whatever the tongue in speaking can express.
One final word:
In private prayer
No tongue is needed,
For inner feeling will suffice
To rouse us to the best,
The silent prayer,
As Moses and Hannah knew.
—John Calvin, The Piety of John Calvin, by Ford Lewis Battles, pp. 98-100, as quoted by Don Postema, Space for God, p. 120.
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