Pray Without Ceasing: How to Pray Constantly in a Life of Action

How to nurture a deep relationship and continual conversation with God while serving others.

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My first article about Frank C. Laubach (Faith and Works – It’s Not an Either-Or Choice) described how his faith included both an intensely prayerful personal relationship with God and a commitment to addressing the needs of others.  His work directly and indirectly helped an estimated 100 million people learn to read.  He traveled to more than 100 countries and oversaw the translation of his literacy materials into more than 30 languages and dialects, but through it all he pursued a life of constant prayer.

“Pray without ceasing”

Laubach’s prayer insights begin with the teaching of the apostle Paul: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).

He recommended daily reading of the Gospels to know who Jesus is, but his main insight was to just do it:

“We try to call Him to mind at least one second of each minute.  We do not need to forget other things nor stop our work, but we invite Him to share everything we do or say or think.” (Letters By A Modern Mystic, first published in 1937, p. 57)

The game of minutes

He and his friends called it the “Game with Minutes.”  We are “winning” the “game,” when we are thinking of God, when we are aware of the presence of Jesus, when we are talking with God about what you are doing and asking Him for His guidance, when we are helping someone for Christ’s sake or seeking to relieve suffering in a prayerful spirit.

(Some readers might recognize similarities between what Laubach is describing and the teachings of 17th-century Carmelite friar Brother Lawrence in The Practice of the Presence of God.  Laubach acknowledges that what he is teaching is just “a fresh approach” to what Brother Lawrence taught (p. 58).  Their shared goal is to make conversation with God a core part of our lives.)

Specific suggestions for how to pray at all times

So let’s get specific.  How do we do this in our busy lives?

When you are walking down the street:

“[O]ffer a swift prayer for the people at whom you glance….  Some of us . . . engage in silent conversations with Him about the people we meet.  For example, we may say: ‘Dear Companion, what can we do together for this man whom we are passing?’  Then we whisper what we believe Christ would answer.” (p. 61)  [This inner dialogue with God is discussed further below.]

On a train or in a room full of people:

“We whisper ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christ’ constantly as we glance at every person near us.  We try to see double, as Christ does – we see the person as he is and the person Christ longs to make him.” (p. 63)

It is difficult, he notes, to remember God every minute in conversation.  He suggests ideas such as, to hum to yourself your favorite Christian song.  Silently pray for each person.  And:

“Keep whispering inside: ‘Lord, put Thy thoughts in my mind. Tell me what to say.’” (p. 64)

While reading, and today this would include the time we spend on the Internet:

“[W]e read it to Him . . . and continue a running conversation with Him inwardly about the pages we are reading….  Have you ever opened a letter and read it with Jesus, realizing that He smiles with us at the fun, rejoices with us in the successes, and weeps with us at life’s tragedies?” (p. 66)

When you are deep in thought:

“All thought employs silent words and is really conversation with your inner self.  Instead of talking to yourself, you will now form the habit of talking to Christ….  We say with our tongue what we think Christ might say in reply to our questions.  Thus we consult Christ about everything.” (p. 67)

But how do you know that you are representing the words of Christ accurately in this inner dialogue?  Laubach responds this way:

“Of course we are not always sure whether we have guessed God’s answer right, but it is surprising how much of the time we are very certain.  It really is not necessary to be sure that our answer is right, for the answer is not the great thing – He is!  God is infinitely more important than His advice or His gifts; indeed, He, himself, is the great gift.” (p. 68)

It is spending time in communion with God that matters, not our assurance of hearing God’s voice.  We are finite and fallible, yet He wants to spend time with us.  God’s presence, not our perfection, is the thing that is needed (see, for example, Jesus’s conversation with Martha in Luke 10:38-42).

God cares, and welcomes our prayers, even in the mundane

Laubach has many more examples.  We can talk with God while we are cooking, washing dishes, and caring for our children.  When we are at work, we have an unseen Colleague by our side.  When we are working with customers, we can be silently praying for them.  And:

“A bookkeeper or banker can whisper to God about every column of figures and be certain that God is even more interested in the figures than he is.” (p. 72)

Why is God interested in our work?  Because He wishes that everything on Earth be done according to His will (Matthew 6:10), and He wants our work to fulfill His purposes (Philippians 2:13).  Therefore, every part of our work life is fair game for a conversation with God.  (Laubach does caution, appropriately, that if your business is harmful or dishonest, you cannot expect God’s partnership with you (p. 71).)

I love his encouragement to students.  When you are studying, he tells them, say to God:

“‘God I have just forty precious minutes.  Help my wavering thoughts to concentrate so that I may not waste a moment.  Show me what is worth remembering in this first paragraph’ – then read the lesson to God, instead of reading it to yourself.” (p. 74)

Laubach’s point is that we can involve God in everything we do, great or mundane.  Virtually every moment of every day is a time when we can talk with God and bring our thoughts into the presence of God.

A life of action and a life of prayer can go together

Frank Laubach was a man of action, devoted to serving others.  He did not see any need to choose between action and prayer. Instead, he combined prayer with action:

“I feel simply carried along each hour, doing my part in a plan which is far beyond myself.  This sense of cooperation with God in little things is what so astonishes me….  My part is to live this hour in continuous inner conversation with God and in perfect responsiveness to his will.  To make this hour gloriously rich.” (p. 10)

Can you and I live more fully in continuous conversation with God while we serve others in perfect responsiveness to God’s will?

It’s a “game” worth trying, and I’m working on it.  God welcomes every second we give to Him and every second in which we talk to Him.