Pray continually

https://odb.org/2026/03/17/pray-all-the-time

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV – UK
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

When pirates kidnapped Patrick in his mid-teens, they took him to Ireland, sold him into slavery, and forced him to to herd sheep for a druid master. Many might have grown bitter and despaired over six years, but through constant prayer, Saint Patrick (as he later became known) focused his mind and heart on God’s presence. “I would pray all the time, right through the day,” Patrick wrote, explaining that by doing so, his faith and God’s love in him increased. He lived in harsh conditions, sometimes out all day and night in snow, frost and rain. But, he continued, “I would hardly notice any discomfort . . . due to the Spirit within me.” (Anne Le Tissier, Our Daily Bread 17th March 2026)

I believe there are two aspects to “praying continually” that Paul advocates in 1 Thessalonians 5 and elsewhere in his other letters. One is to continually asking God to intervene in people’s lives like to heal someone or to help a brother go through a rough time or to just cover someone with the blood of Christ. These are prayer items that impact lives and every pastor and leader do this every day or at least once a week at weekly prayer meetings. Many people need God and God’s providence and help in different aspects and situations of their lives. This aspect is useful and benefits others as prayer moves mountains as the saying goes or prayer moves the hand of God, as the song goes. We seek the supernatural intervention of the Kingdom of God into the natural, into our ordinary lives, to help us live out our faith victoriously!

Go deeper and we enter into the realm of intercessory prayer, seeking to weaken demonic influence in the spiritual world as ultimately our fight is not against flesh and blood but against dark spiritual forces – principalities, powers and rulers of darkness. This is a ministry by itself and often encompasses areas beyond our personal spiritual journey. As we are dealing with dark spiritual forces, it is advisable to have the covering of our local church if we are to embark on this ministry as most territorial spirits are beyond the reach of an ordinary believer or even an anointed and gifted individual acting alone.

The other aspect of praying continually is to always communicate with the Lord and the Holy Spirit. Some of us have this habit of just talking with God as we go through our day. Thus prayer is not formally asking God by petition or supplication for someone’s needs. It’s just speaking to Jesus in our heart as we live out life. We tell him our struggles, our challenges and our happy moments and disappointments. In my view, it’s a good habit to cultivate as it keeps us honest in all that we do and think. God is real to us and we will experience Him working in us as we respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Not only should we pray continually but we should also rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances as Paul teaches in 1 Thessalonians 5. That is why praying continually as in speaking to God continually works well because in the process, we will thank Him and be grateful to Him in all situations. If we made a mistake like we said something wrong that had upset someone, we rejoice and are still thankful because God still loves us. We correct ourselves and apologise. We will read the room better next time. Another example – in life, we will not win all the time. Give thanks even if we came in second or third or last. We tried. We try again another time.

P/S

We’ll be catching a bus to London Heathrow in about 6 hours at 11.25 pm to board our MH flight back to KUL at 10.25 am (UK time, GMT). We are scheduled to touch down in KLIA 7.15 am (MST, GMT +8) Wed 18 March 2026. As I’ll be on a plane, it is unlikely I’ll be able to write another commentary for Wed 18 March 2026. Pray for journey mercy for us. Thanks!