The Life-Changing Power of Praying Without Ceasing

Once you begin to understand this truth, your prayer life will gain momentum and your faith will skyrocket. There's a reason that the Word of God commands us to pray without ceasing. Now, first, you should know that in the realm of the Spirit, you're praying 24/7. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, beginning at verse number 10, we read this. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit, for his Spirit searches out everything, And shows us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And we have received God's Spirit, not the world's spirit, so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. Now, this is what's being described here. The Holy Spirit searches and knows the mind of God, the mysteries of God, the nature of God. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit 24/7 communes with the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you. Now that fellowship takes place 24/7, even when you're not aware of it. Now there is a practical element to this, and we're gonna be covering that in just a moment. Of course, we have to pray without ceasing in the practical sense, and that doesn't literally mean that you have to spend 24/7 in a prayer room on your knees praying to God, but there is something to be said about the reality of the Spirit. There is this ongoing fellowship in the realm of the Spirit. Now here's why that applies to you. In 1 Corinthians 6:17, we read, but the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. This is not a reality that's being described concerning then and there, but here and now. The Holy Spirit is one with your spirit. Now think about this. The Holy Spirit who searches and knows the mind mysteries and nature of God communicates those mysteries, gives that revelation to your spirit. And this is happening in the realm of the spirit, whether you're aware of it or not, whether you believe it or not, whether you're immediately seeing the effects of it or not, the Holy Spirit is affecting your being. And because you are one with the Holy Spirit, you are participating in this fellowship. That's one of the wonderful things about walking by faith. Many believers place upon themselves burdens that God did not give to them. So whenever you read a command, something like pray without ceasing or be diligent in prayer, you might think that that all depends upon you. So think about this here in Romans 8:26-27. This is powerful. Watch this now. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. Have you ever been there? You go to the prayer room, you set aside time with God, or maybe you're just fellowshipping with him as you go throughout your day, being mindful of his presence, and you don't know what to say. You don't know what to pray. You don't know if you should worship or speak in tongues or pray for a loved one or make a prayer request or just praise the Lord and give him thanks for what he's doing in your life. And there's this confusion that comes when we don't know what to pray. And it actually causes stagnation in our prayer life because we become overwhelmed by that sense of obligation, overwhelmed by that sense of inadequacy. But watch this now. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. So I first want to establish that fundamental truth, that prayer ultimately relies upon the Holy Spirit, that prayer is by faith. Yes, there is a practical element. I'm about to get into that when it comes to praying without ceasing. But first you should know that the desire to pray, the power to pray, the grace to persist in prayer, the faith for prayer, all of it, even the words to pray, All of that begins in the Spirit. You're not relying upon your own ability to pray. You are relying upon your union with the Holy Spirit, and out of that union flows true prayer. So we can rely on God, but we must also participate. Now here's the role that you play. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Rejoice always, never stop praying, Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. And in Psalm 55:17, we read, morning, noon, and night, I cry out in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice. That's Psalm 55:17. Many believers, when they read verses like these, they immediately begin to fret because they think that the responsibility rests on them. They gotta work up the desire. They have to know what to pray. They have to know how to navigate the realm of the Spirit. And really, it's much simpler than that. Remember, the Holy Spirit within you prays for you. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. The Holy Spirit searches out the mysteries of God and reveals them to you. The Holy Spirit is in constant communion with the Father and with the Son. And because you are one with Him, you share in that communion. So you're not trying to work toward a prayer life, you're working from a prayer life that's established by the Holy Spirit. His grace fills in the gaps. He gives you strength where you are weak. He fills in the holes of your inadequacies with His nature and His power. And so, Your spirit is praying 24/7. Your spirit is aware of God 24/7. Your spirit always is at peace, always is at rest, always is living by faith. You just have to now connect with that reality by walking in awareness of God. Now, there is a difference between the discipline of prayer And the posture of prayer. To have a prayerful mind and a prayerful heart, that will ultimately produce the discipline of prayer. Many believers attempt to have the discipline of prayer without first understanding the foundations of prayer. They try to have a routine of prayer without having the faith to believe that they're already connected with God. And so we must all throughout the day, Live in an awareness of God, not trying to fill time on a schedule, not trying to complete a list of tasks and obligations, but rather being mindful of his presence, being aware of that 24/7 connection, and by faith believing that you have communion with God. Now here's what happens when you live like that. Out of that posture of prayer and faith, Out of that mindfulness of his presence now begins to flow the discipline, because the discipline will naturally result from the mindset. So you begin to become aware of him, choose to be mindful of God. This is called the practice of the presence of God. In other words, I'm choosing to, in my mind, be aware of the presence of God. I'm choosing to think about God as often as I can and for as long as I can. I'm choosing to be aware of the presence of God in all of the different scenarios of my life. These scenarios I live out are not separate from the presence of God. Rather, I involve the Holy Spirit in everything that I'm doing by acknowledging him through prayer. And in so doing, I now have a lifestyle of praying without ceasing. Again, praying without ceasing isn't that literal 24/7, down to every minute, down to every second, you with the physical body and your mouth crying out and you locking yourself in a room, you'd never have time to eat. You'd never have time to sleep. You'd never have time to evangelize. You'd never have time to be a good spouse, a good parent, all of those things we are commanded to do in Scripture. So of course, this is not speaking in the literal sense, it's the spiritual sense. You have that fellowship, and now you live a lifestyle of readiness to be aware of the presence of God. And so now you begin to seek Him moment by moment, and you recognize that He's with you when you're in the car on your way to work, He's with you when you're preparing for a big test. He's with you when you're looking for a spouse. He's with you when you're trying to establish a work, a business, a ministry, an organization, a project of some sort. He's with you when you're experiencing the highs of life, triumphs, accomplishments. And he's with you when you experience the lows. Those disappointments, loss, things didn't turn out the way you thought they should. Maybe you're frustrated with yourself. He's right there abiding with you. And when you're aware that he's in those moments, those little nuances of the day, then you begin to pray without ceasing. Now this changes your life because to live in that awareness of his presence changes everything that you do, changes everything about the way that you are. Now, consistency is diligence. But persistence is faith. And by the way, faith is almost synonymous with persistence. I wanna show you something here in Luke chapter 18, 18:1-8. So there's something to be said about faith when it comes to praying without ceasing, that is that awareness of his presence. And then there's the persistence when it comes to praying without ceasing, and this is partnership with God. Now watch this, watch this. Luke chapter 18, I'm gonna begin reading at verse number 1. One day, Jesus told his disciples a story to show them that they should always pray and never give up. There was a judge in a certain city, he said, who neither feared God nor cared about people. And a widow of that city came to him repeatedly saying, give me justice in this dispute with my enemy. The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm gonna see that she gets justice because she is wearing me out with her constant requests. Then the Lord said, learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Verse 7, even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think that God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly. But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on earth who have faith? Notice here that this widow's persistence is equated with faith. Faith is where you really begin to see now the power behind praying without ceasing. That element of faith begins to remove stubborn barriers. So maybe you feel stuck. Like everything you've tried just isn't working and you wanna give up. And you feel like nothing's ever gonna change the situation. And it even is affecting your faith overall. Well, this is where having faith in that persistent prayer or having faith in God. And of course, because of that being persistent in prayer, this is where now that begins to tear down those stubborn barriers. This is the power of praying without ceasing. That awareness of God And the faith to receive. Now, this faith is actually partnership with God. I'm gonna describe that to you in just a moment. But first, if you're enjoying this teaching on prayer and you want more like it, make sure that you subscribe to my channel and do click that notification bell when you subscribe so that you don't miss any content. I'm constantly releasing new teachings. I'm constantly doing videos of the power of the Holy Spirit in action. So I want you to subscribe if this is something that you're looking for. Wow. Now, this is the partnership of faith. Watch this. 2 Kings 13:14-19. When Elisha was in his last illness, King Jehoash of Israel visited him and wept over him. My father, my father, I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel, he cried. Elisha told him, get a bow and some arrows. And the king did as he was told. Elisha told him, Put your hand on the bow. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. Then he commanded, open the eastern window, and he opened it. Then he said, shoot. So he shot an arrow. Elisha proclaimed, this is the Lord's arrow, an arrow of victory over Aram, for you will completely conquer the Arameans. Then he said, now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground. Watch this now. So the king picked them up and struck the ground 3 times. But the man of God was angry with him. I thought that was peculiar, but watch this now. You should have struck the ground 5 or 6 times, he exclaimed. Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only 3 times. So here we see that the king did not persist in faith in response to the spoken word of God. He tried just a little bit, He gave just some effort and then he stopped short. And the prophet was angry with him. Why? Because the king should have known to act in faith. The king should have known how to reverently respond to the word of God. The king should have known that this was a prophetic declaration. And he chose instead to apply with apathy. He chose instead to only be half-hearted. He didn't do all that he was able to do. You see, sometimes we think And this is where I think there's some confusion. Sometimes we think that if we have faith in God, we'll just stand by and do nothing. Well, that's not the way that works. In fact, you demonstrate your faith in God through action. There are some people who will say, well, you know, if you want God to use you in ministry, you don't have to do anything. You just stand by and let the Lord do the work. That's partially true, but you also have to apply faith. Or, you know, if you're fundraising for a ministry or a project, you don't have to ask for a cent. Just leave it alone and God will bring people randomly. That's partially true, but you have not because you ask not. There's faith still applied. You know, God will heal you. You just have to sit there and just wait on whenever he wants to heal you. And there is some truth to waiting on the timing of God when it comes to healing. I believe that. But there's also some truth in applying faith. Seeking the face of God, praying for healing, contending for the miracle. You see, faith is not idle. A demonstration of faith is action. And some believers lack that persistence because they lack faith. They lack persistence in prayer because they give up saying to themselves, well, this just isn't working, or this is silly, or God doesn't need me to do this. Jesus said this, Matthew 7:7, Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. Have faith, believe, keep praying. Maybe you're praying for a wayward child. Maybe they're an alcoholic, a drug addict. Maybe they've just wandered away from the things of God. Keep praying for them. Maybe your spouse, walked away from the Lord, or maybe your spouse has never known the Lord, and you're in this situation and you feel trapped, you keep praying, pray persistently, pray with faith, keep striking the ground with those arrows of persistence, respond to the voice of God, respond to the words that he has promised, and you keep going. You may even have seen some victory, And then tasted defeat again. You know, there's a very distinct kind of pain that comes from not just tasting defeat, but tasting defeat after you've already tasted victory, because then you begin to wonder what was the purpose of all of that? I don't wanna start all over again. You've been here before, and if God did it before, God will do it again. You stay in faith and you pray without ceasing. Praying without ceasing is like a sledgehammer against a brick wall. You keep striking that wall. You keep applying that strength. You keep believing God, and that wall will come down. The miracle will happen. The breakthrough will occur. You may be saying to yourself, well, you know what? If it were actually going to happen, it would have happened by now. Or maybe you're saying, I went too far, I waited too long, I don't have what it takes. Well, that's partially true that we don't have what it takes, but he does. God has what it takes. And this is why we partner with God in faith. You see, it's not that God needs our faith to move. It's that that's how God chooses to move in the earth and in our lives through our faith. Amen. He doesn't need our faith, but he does ask it of us. That's the way God has chosen to set the spiritual laws in motion in this world. Faith is required, persistent faith. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is Blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. When you go to ask God for something, don't let the mind be double. Don't go back and forth saying, maybe God will do it, maybe God won't. I'll never forget when Jess and I were struggling with infertility. We were believing for a miracle baby. Years passed, nothing happened. The doctors told us IVF was our only option. We couldn't afford it at that time. And so we're just praying for a miracle. Lord, help us. And I remember that frustration because some months we would be filled with faith and other months we would be afraid to have faith because we didn't wanna be disappointed again. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, of picturing ourselves as parents, and then also not wanting to get our hopes up. So just maybe accepting that maybe we'll never have children. Well, today I have 2 daughters, Aria and Lillian, and they're both miracles of God. And I'll tell you this, there was a moment when we were struggling. There was a moment when we were afraid. Afraid to believe. Where I told Jess, I said, my dear, we've cried our tears. And now from here on out, it's faith. I would rather go my whole life believing for the miracle than to give up just one day too soon. That is the power of praying without ceasing. It is awareness of God's presence 24/7, day by day. And it is also persistence in faith when you pray. Pray without ceasing. Here's what persistent prayer does. Persistent prayer demonstrates faith. Persistent prayer opens doors. Persistent prayer pleases God. Persistent prayer removes stubborn obstacles. Persistent prayer builds your faith during trials. Lord, Give us the grace to pray without ceasing. Father, I pray right now that by your Holy Spirit, you would inspire your people to believe again, and that you would help them to be aware of your presence resting with them 24/7. I give you the praise and the glory and the honor. I want you to type it in the comment section if you believe it, type a big Amen. Well, I want you to check out davidhernandezministries.com/partner. When you become a monthly ministry partner, we wanna offer to you a thank you, an initiation gift for signing up as a ministry partner. To see what that offer is this month, go to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. All of our partners from $15 and up receive all of the partner benefits, That's our monthly partner Zoom call where myself, Steve Moctezuma, other members of the staff meet with our partners exclusively on Zoom. We give you ministry updates, we pray with one another, we chat with one another. It's a smaller, more intimate online setting, and so we want you to be a part of that as our partners. We give you a partner pin so that you can share your support of the gospel. There's a merch discount that our partners get and various other benefits to being a partner, but most importantly, I want you to go to davidhernandezministries.com/partner, and I want you to see how many people that you can reach with your monthly gift. We've actually done some calculations here at the ministry to see how far these monthly gifts are going and reaching people, and I want you to take a look at this. So go to davidhernandezministries.com/partner right now and take a look at how many people your gift will impact. Every amount counts because every soul matters. davidhernandezministries.com/partner to sign up now. You can go to davidhernandezministries.com/donate to give a single gift.