{"id":9604,"date":"2019-03-27T04:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gcc.edu\/insider\/?p=9604"},"modified":"2019-03-22T12:03:28","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T16:03:28","slug":"college-student-pray-without-ceasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gcc.edu\/insider\/2019\/03\/27\/college-student-pray-without-ceasing\/","title":{"rendered":"How does a college student &#8216;Pray without ceasing&#8217;?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAnd we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>1 Thessalonians 5:14\u201322 ESV<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re ever in the market for a formula to give you a fulfilling life, this is it.<\/p>\n<p>It reads almost like the ultimate daily checklist \u2014<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Admonish the idle<\/li>\n<li>Encourage the fainthearted<\/li>\n<li>Help the weak<\/li>\n<li>Do good to one another<\/li>\n<li>Rejoice always<\/li>\n<li>Pray without ceasing\u2026\u00a0<em>wait, really? how is that possible?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A few weeks ago I read through this particular group of verses with the purpose of adopting them in my daily routine. I had heard the phrase so many times, but for the first time I actually let my brain munch on the words\u00a0<em>\u201cPray without ceasing\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase is so common in the Christian community that I had become desensitized to the commitment it asks of us. We are clearly called to \u2018pray without ceasing\u2019 but what does that mean for a busy college student? How can I engage in the world around me while constantly praying?<\/p>\n<p>I decided to dive into the question. I read articles, spoke to my pastor, got input from a few wise friends and most importantly, read the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Here are my findings \u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Praying without ceasing\u2019 cannot mean a continuous and conscious stream of thought directed to\u00a0God.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My original thought was that maybe we are called to a perpetual state of multitasking. Maybe what it means to pray without ceasing is to always have God in the back of your mind, speaking to Him as you go about your day.<\/p>\n<p>It is a nice thought to be sure but it does not quite add up.<\/p>\n<p>Nancy K. Kapiner, contributor to psychologytoday.com, writes,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuch recent\u00a0neuroscience research tells us that the brain doesn\u2019t really do tasks simultaneously, as we thought (hoped) it might. In fact, we just switch tasks quickly. Each time we move from hearing music to writing a text or talking to someone, there is a stop\/start process that goes on in the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This may seem a little inconsequential to the question at hand, it does, however, tell us that unless we are 100% fixated on prayer, \u2018without ceasing\u2019 is not what it seems. A constant unwavering focus on conscience prayer is impossible.<\/p>\n<p>So, how do we fulfill Gods calling to \u2018Pray without ceasing\u2019 as busy college students? I found that the answer lies in not how we define prayer, but how we define \u2018without ceasing\u2019. As it turns out, the original Hebrew translation more closely resembles \u2018constantly recurring\u2019 than \u2018without ceasing\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>This, from my perspective, is a clear command to pray in all circumstances by relating your daily life to God\u2019s purpose. If we have the mentality of constantly praying, we will never be able to properly focus on our surroundings. If however, we live with the purpose of telling God about our daily actions and experiences, we will be able to pray \u2018constantly recurring prayers\u2019 about the good, bad and mundane aspects of college life. This will increase our ability to connect with God and our environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAnd we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":9605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,350],"tags":[353,351,352,104],"class_list":["post-9604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual","category-student-life-2","tag-bible","tag-prayer","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-student-life"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>How does a college student &#039;Pray without ceasing&#039;? -<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.gcc.edu\/insider\/2019\/03\/27\/college-student-pray-without-ceasing\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How does a college student &#039;Pray without ceasing&#039;? -\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAnd we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 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