1 Thessalonians 5:17

17. Pray without ceasing This recipe of St. Paul’s for a perpetual rejoice is in two Greek words, Pray incessantly. It means, not the being incessantly upon our knees, provided there be a perpetual submission of soul. It requires not perpetual utterance of words, provided there be a permanent communion of the heart with God. Yet will that submission and that communion often frame themselves in definite thought and positive words, and go out in vocal prayer for our own well-being and the highest good of others. And when the heart is in communion with God, and the soul has an interest in his unchanging favour, despondency, gloom, glowering over earthly prospects and discomforts, are out of place.