In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, St. Paul's advice is to "pray without ceasing." Taken literally, this seems impossible. After all, people need to do other things: eat, sleep, go to work... And even if there weren't other obligations in life, who has the attention span or even the desire to just pray twenty-four hours a day? Even those in cloistered communities whose ministry (their call, really) is prayer participate in some kind of work to support the community financially.
I'm no theologian, but I think that St. Paul's dramatic language calls us to shift our mindsets. It stops us from thinking about prayer as something we schedule into our days in between other tasks, as one more thing to do. Instead, it challenges us to see prayer as a way of life. It's an invitation to live connected to God and have it be a part of everything we do. To have our actions either come from prayer or be brought to prayer.
There are several ways that I try to bring this into my life. The first one is to have and then stick to a prayer schedule. This almost seems to contradict that first paragraph, doesn't it? But faithfulness to certain prayer practices at certain times is part of committing to living a Christian life. It means praying when you feel like it-- and when you don't. It shows our trust that God is there with us and that He is working, even when we don't see anything happening. Doing this, too, makes our faith a priority, especially when we protect that time from life's activity. In addition, patterns of behavior can be positive; being used to a schedule that includes prayer makes it easier to keep it up. And easier to take it to the next level, too!
Convent living comes with a built-in schedule for the prayers we say together, which helps me. I'm also responsible for my personal prayer. I find times to pray that work for me and keep them. I'm not a morning person, so I pray in the evening. I spend time in the quiet chapel as the sun sets behind the rose window and then journal my reflections on how God was present in my day.
Another way I try to pray unceasingly is to include God in my daily life. I talk to Him during the day about what's happening. Some people say short prayers during the day, such as "Jesus, mercy!" I also make God part of my day by living my values and beliefs. Every decision, no matter how small, is an opportunity to be a better disciple of Jesus. By doing what Jesus would do in that situation, I make Him more a part of it. Prayer is never meant to be mere words; it should lead to blessed action. Living with compassion and mercy puts flesh on those words.
A third way I do this is to find spiritual metaphors in practical tasks. I find ways that routine tasks can be more meaningful. For example, when I hooked rugs as a hobby, I would reflect about the difference between my perspective and God's. Metaphorically speaking, I only knew the immediate steps-- that I was using red yard in these two squares and then dark green, but not the end product. God, on the other hand, sees the big picture when I don't. As I worked on the rugs, that would be in the back of my mind. Writing the book about the history of the community is also a spiritual exercise for me. The entire writing process is based on gradual improvement, When I develop a rough set of research notes into a rough draft and then a good working draft, it inspires me to keep trying to grow personally and spiritually. God isn't done editing and revising me!
I once read that happy people are able to choose to do what they're obligated to do. The example that book gave is instead of minding household chores like washing the dishes or doing laundry, do it for a purpose. To keep your family healthy or to give them a nice, clean house to live in, maybe. That's kind of what I'm saying here. I try to see beyond the immediate task, to find a deeper level to what I'm doing already. I also do certain things because of how they speak to me. I hooked rugs because of its symbolism. Adopting hobbies like that can be spiritually healthy.
So, how can we pray without ceasing? These are the three things that help me: One-- choose God. Choose to spend one-on-one time with Him, but also seek Him in all situations. He's there! Two-- Be close to God and keep that relationship going. Three-- See the spiritual dimension of life. Look beyond the obvious.
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