Pray Without Ceasing

[Audley]

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18English Standard Version (ESV)
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Isnt all aspects of our life connected? Arent companies/organizations originally created to serve one another to meet the needs of mankind? Hence, to serve one another with/in love, Divine Love,this is the True treasure. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

How do we pray for Divine Love in all of our activities? At the time of, and not separate from and only in a specific time and place.

How do we pray without ceasing?

Your thoughts are appreciated

Love, Audley

[jeanne]

Thanks Audley for this important question. Prayer takes many forms and is expressed in many ways. An attitude of prayer is possible in every moment of the day, that is being open to God's influence and Love as we go about our day. This does not mean sitting in prayerful meditation because this is not practical for most of us. Yes, those times of focused and earnest communion are very important and IMHO is a necessary component to this path and should be practiced daily. But prayer can be an active thing with thoughts going to the Creator frequently and this attitude and devotion can be interwoven into our daily experience. This is a goal rather than a reality for most of us as the distractions of the day can be a constant strain on this aspiration. With enough Divine Love in our souls the possibility of living within an attitude of prayer becomes more tenable because that reality becomes a powerful force within you.

Divine Love is the key to this goal and another reason for us to keep longing for it to flow within us. The angels suggest that we can pray for it at any time during the day. A heart felt and brief longing does get a response and is answered just as powerfully as a dedicated and focused prayer time. Who knows, maybe these prayers are just as effective as the hour long daily prayer that I try to incorporate into my day.

Prayer works as long as it is sincere. How we pray can take on many forms and in time our days on earth can be an expression of prayer with every breath. The mechanics are a bit vague but the response is not. The longings of the soul want to be expressed to God at all times. We need to allow those expressions to be released and not inhibit them with our minds but rather consciously join in with thoughts of gratitude and loving intent. God will then use us in very overt ways to express His Will in the world. In this flow I believe that our lives are a prayer in action and we truly are living in a prayerful way.

I hope that this helps Audley to give you some insight into this question. Much love to you.......Al

[Audley]

Thank you so much Al for your words. They are very comforting and inspiring.

living within an attitude of prayer ---in all things and all thoughts, my soul longs for His Love, to bring this about for all of Eternity.

love, Audley

p.s. what does IMHO mean?

[Doles]

Hello Audley,
As I see Al hadn't yet responded to your passing question...if it makes any difference I think it means "In my humble opinion"...just like imo means "in my opinion", or lol, "laughing out loud" and such.

[Terry Adler]

Dear Audley,

Another great question! Thanks for asking this, Audley!

If we understand prayer to be sincere longing from the soul for our Creator's Love, your question becomes, "how do we enter into and stay in a state of longing for the Love throughout daily life?" And of course, that state (of longing for Love) is accompanied by our reciprocal love for our Creator and all Creation.

On days when (for whatever reasons) I feel the Angels close with me, their loving conditions make it easy for me to feel my love for the Creator and the Creator's Love for me. My awareness of the Love colors everything I see, do, think. Everything becomes a blessing.

On days when my Guides and Teachers and the Love they bring are more distant (this I know is for my own benefit, that I may through striving, "grow my soul"), I must struggle to enter that state of longing. My struggles are most often with thoughts or feeling that are unloving, or mental "programs" that persist, that distance me from the Love, yet can be transformed or cleared only by the Love.

At these times (and they are frequent), my choice is what is pivotal. I can choose to remain in an unloving condition of estrangement from the Love, or choose to reach for the Love. This I do sometimes through praying with words (affirming my love for the Creator, the Creator's Love for me), other times through centering myself wordlessly on that place within me that longs for and knows the Love (which I sometimes can reach by focusing on my breath, feeling gratitude for the breath of life that to me is a gift from our Creator). Still other times, I stay stuck in the unloving state until something outside me gets me out of it, such things as the loving words or actions of another.

I know I can always shift from a stuck, unloving, distressed state into a loving state by taking time to pray and meditate. This always works! This again, is a choice.

I have the notion that we are all held in the Loving Consciousness of our Creator, and that our loving the Creator is holding Him/Her in our own loving awareness as we are held; Soul calling to soul, soul responding to Soul.

I appreciate what I have read of others' posts on this Forum about how they pray, especially those who describe their on-going dialogue with our Creator. I, too, desire such an intimate, personal dialogue, a constant "being-in-relationship" with the Source of our being.

I hope many others will reply to your question Audley, including yourself, with their own understandings and practices, because from this kind of sharing I learn so much!

Love,
Terry

[Audley]

Thank you Doles And Terry.

I am disappointed that a fall back into the Natural Man and lose sight of what i know is the real goal, Divine Love.

I seem to be in a state of fear of letting go of my sin, my mask. I fear being the real me that our Father calls me to be.

I know the Fulness of the Father is the answer. I can busy myself with all kinds of temporal things thinking this kind of success is measurable. It keeps me hooked until something/circumstances jolts me back into my connection with the Divine. Then i take the time to pray.

My mind is full of FEAR and holds me captive most of the time.

hugs to all, Audley

[Terry Adler]

Dear Audley,

I pray that you find ways of calling on the Love to stand with you as you face your fear, release your fear or whatever you wish to do with your fear (perhaps enter it to "deconstruct" it, find out what it stands for or what its function is in your inner life?). There are many functions fear performs, many ways you can understand, embrace and release it with the help of the Love.

Perhaps by believing (even for a moment) that the Love is with you all the time, and simply asking for the Love to help you transcend your fear, you will begin to experience some distance from it, some reprieve.

In a face to face conversation, you could help me begin to understand what it is you struggle with, and perhaps I could help you "see" differently or more clearly, so you are not so hard on yourself, so self-judgmental. Perhaps during your visit here in April?

Love,
Terry

[jeanne]

Thank you Audley for being honest and a little vulnerable here by sharing your inner dialogue. It is that truthfulness and vulnerability which in my mind indicates a soul stirring and growing in the Love. The awareness of inner fear and the uncomfortable twists and turns which we cannot avoid no matter how busy we become most likely is the direct result of the Love expunging those conditions which are not in harmony with it. The cleansing of the soul is a necessary and crucial part of the process. It can be disturbing and discouraging what may come up in this process but it is proof that the Love is working and exerting it's power to heal us. Conscious awareness of those inharmonious elements within is an opportunity to let these things go to God. The first step is acknowledging their existence. The second step is to let them go to God. and I must say that in my experience, the letting go is the harder work.

Keep feeling Audley. This journey is all guts and feeling at least in the formative stages . I believe that the peace and joy that we long for comes in greater measure as we progress within. Of course there are times of elevation and joyful awakenings as we live each day and as the inner healing is complete, so the good stuff will take precedence and we become free of the difficulties we all face in this life. God bless for now.......Al

[Audley]

Thank you Terry, and i would appreciate some face to face time on these things in April. It is a WE program and not a ME program. I appreciate your time.

Thank you too Al and your right the letting go is the hard part. And identifying those elements, fears, is equally difficult to discern on your own.

Scripture says, "Come unto me all ye that are Heavy Laden and I will give you rest" Allowing myself to be vulnerable in the Forum is bearing good fruit. Divine Love, I know, is the answer. But the hard going is in process.

Love, Audley

[Terry Adler]

Audley, I really love and hear the truth in what Albert says "The cleansing of the soul is a necessary and crucial part of the process. It can be disturbing and discouraging what may come up in this process but it is proof that the Love is working and exerting it's power to heal us."

This is a wise "reframe" of the turmoil that we often feel, which helps us see it as evidence that the Love is actually doing its cleansing work, bringing inner "stuff" to our attention. Unless we are aware of something, we cannot change it or ask for our Creator's Love to help us change it. The turmoil can actually be a catalyst for our growth if we choose to look at it as such, prodding us to more intense seeking of the Peace of the Creator's Presence.

This choice, of bringing our turmoil to the Creator, is the "second step", the "harder part" that Al refers to. It is harder because we are stuck in the distraught condition of mind, feeling its power over us, and believing it is "true" or "legitimate" or "justified". The irony is that only when we choose to call upon the Love does our condition lift, dissolve, fade and reveal itself as a ephemeral state of our own making, without substance. It is harder because we give that distressing condition the power it has over us. Only we can "pull the plug" on that power by choosing to attend to the Higher Power whose Love harmonizes all.

Keep making the effort to call in the Love, make the choice to turn to our Creator, and the rewards will come!

Love,
Terry