Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

• Prove all things • Hold to the good and abstain from the appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:16–22, KJV ).

Each of these admonitions is self-explanatory except for one. How can a person pray without ceasing? The Amplified Bible says to “be unceasing in prayer.” The NIV says, “Pray continually.” The instruction is simple: always pray. The Greek word for “without ceasing” can mean, “without interruption, or pray not just occasionally but constantly reoccurring.” 1 When I was a teenage minister, I wondered how a person could “pray without ceasing” when he or she must drive a car to work and concentrate on the road, work a job for eight hours (often with unsaved people), drive home, and eat dinner with the family, along with other daily responsibilities. When we think of prayer, we imagine a person speaking words out of his or her mouth in rapid-fire order. After all, we must say something for it to be prayer . Thus, I can’t be praying and talking to a fellow worker about work at the same time, or be talking on the phone and to God at the same time. Dad felt that to pray without ceasing, a person could keep his or her mind on the Lord at all times. For example, when driving to work, sing a praise song to the Lord or worship Him with simple words of “Praise the Lord” and “I love You, Lord.” To Dad, praying without ceasing meant maintaining a spiritual mind and holding fast to good