Chapter 17

Scripture Commands Us to Pray Unceasingly

Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). And in his other letters, St. Paul commands to continue (Rom. 12:12) and to persevere in prayer, watching in it (Col. 4:2), praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and petition (Eph. 6:18). The Savior Himself teaches constancy and persistence in prayer through the parable of the widow who through her persistence urged an unjust judge to grant her request (Luke 18:1 and following). It is clear that unceasing prayer is not a chance prescription, but an inalienable mark of the Christian spirit. The Christian’s life, according to the Apostle, is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). In God he must remain constantly unbroken through attention and feeling, which is unceasing prayer. On the other hand, every Christian is a temple of God, in whom the Spirit of God dwells (1Cor 3:16,6,19; Rom. 8:9). This Spirit, always dwelling in him and interceding, prays for him always with groanings that cannot be expressed (Rom. 8:26), teaching him himself to unceasing prayer. The very first action of God’s grace, turning a sinner toward God, is revealed in the striving of his mind and heart toward God. When then, after repentance and dedication of his life to God, God’s grace, having worked from without, enters into him through the sacraments and dwells in him, then there becomes in him constant and perpetual that striving of mind and heart toward God, in which lies the essence of prayer. It manifests itself in different degrees and, like every other gift, must be kindled (2 Tim. 1:6). It is kindled according to its nature: through the labor of prayer and especially through patient and purposeful perseverance in church prayers. (17, 218–219)