Pray Without Ceasing

[0:00] Hallelujah! And thank you for tuning into this message by David Entry at Karis Church. As we journey in this season of Great Awakening, may God pour fresh life into you through His! and align you more deeply with His purpose.

[0:16] Luke 3, verse 21, it came to pass when all the people were being baptized and Jesus was being baptized and the heavens was opened. And it says that, verse 21, please. And the heaven was opened. Last I'll say, the heaven was opened. Please say it again. The heaven was opened. And verse 22 says that, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove.

[0:50] So, the Holy Spirit is not a dove. But if you would want to describe what you saw coming down, it's almost like a certain bird flying. So, if you want to describe what you saw coming down, it's like it came in a bodily shape like a dove. Sometimes there are times that heavenly things, spiritual things, when God can let you in to see, it's, you can see something coming down on people. Today, I want us to spend some time praying. Is that okay? I want us to spend some good time praying. Why? Because you cannot be a prey. You can become a victim prayerfully.

[1:39] So, one can be a victim prayerfully. When you pray, it causes heavens to be opened upon you. It brings you in alignment with God, or brings the plan, the purpose, the agenda, the intention of God.

[1:56] It creates the room for that to be manifested. You know, so that's why it is said, God doesn't do anything on earth unless somebody prays. Sometimes one of the reasons why God has saved you is so that there can be someone who can pray in your family. Because what's going on in your family, it will take the hand of God, but God needs an intercessor, somebody who can stand in the gap in prayer. And I believe you are the one God has found. You know, one interesting thing about prayer, you can pray about days that haven't come. You can pray about your children who are far before they are born. You can pray about things ahead. Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer. Prayer can actually enter into the future and take care of things in the future before you get there. Oh, yes. Prayer can also fix some things the past has undone. So prayer is such a good thing. Um, prayer is not just a duty. It is for the believer. It should be a delight. It's not just a duty. It should be a delight. Prayer is not just an imperative, like an instruction.

[3:15] It's an invitation. It's an invitation. So the reason why we pray is because it's an invitation. God has invited us. You know, in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, it says that, let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace. It's an invitation. He said, let us come. Come, come. Because Hebrews chapter 10, 19 says that we have boldness and access, a living way, a better way. He has procured and secured a living way.

[3:44] By which we can approach God through the blood. He says that by the new and a living way, which he has consecrated for us through the veil. That is to say, his flesh. This is by which we can approach God with boldness and with confidence.

[3:58] So in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, it says, let us come boldly before the throne of grace. So prayer is not just an imperative. Prayer is an invitation. Prayer is not just an obligation.

[4:12] It's an opportunity. So when I say we are going to pray. Much as prayer is a command from God that the believers we should pray is also an opportunity to get some things done.

[4:29] Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah, it's very important to appreciate these things. It will inform our prayer lives. In the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Now we exhort you, brethren, verse 14.

[4:42] Warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded. Support the weak. Wow, this is Christian living. This is Christian living. It says that.

[4:54] Now we exhort you, brethren. Warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded. Support the weak. Be patient towards all men. Wow. That's a nice Christian.

[5:06] Sometimes it surprises me how we don't normally see these texts. It says, be patient towards all men. Not only believers. All men, including husbands. Including wives.

[5:18] The men that means all people. Be patient. That's a Christian life. It says, we should be patient towards all men. Comfort the feeble-minded. Support the weak. Be patient to.

[5:28] See that. None render evil for evil. This guy watches that. I will show him. I will show him. If doing good doesn't matter, then doing bad also will not matter.

[5:38] I will show him. That's not. The Bible says that render not evil for evil. One day, many years ago when I was in secondary school, I stumbled across a scripture which really blessed me.

[5:51] I haven't forgotten up to now. It challenged me in my Christian club. When I was in secondary school, my Christianity was not built on power, but virtue.

[6:03] Power is the way people will see you. So we desire gifts, spiritual gifts. There are a lot of people who are looking for spiritual gifts, but they don't have spiritual fruits. The fruits of the spirit.

[6:14] When we got born again, what our motivation was, was how the spirit will manifest through our lives. How we will please the Lord. Not how we will deal with demons.

[6:27] It's sad to know there are people who want to be important in church. They want to be church leaders because they want to look important. There are people who want to lead some department or sing in front of the stage or preach.

[6:43] Not because they want to serve God dedicatedly, but they want relevance. Sometimes, when we read the Bible, we don't see a lot of things. I was reading the Bible many years ago when I was in secondary school and I stumbled across Colossians chapter 3, verse 13 and 14.

[7:03] It says, forbearing one another, forgiving one another. If any man has a quarrel against any. You won't see this. Many of us, it doesn't even feature in our modern day songs.

[7:16] Our modern days are about breakthrough. It's not a bad song, but you see, we usually sing our convictions. Look at verse 12. The real one I'm looking for, I think, is, yes.

[7:29] This one is the one I'm looking for. It really didn't give me peace. It says, put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved. Put on bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering.

[7:45] I was in secondary school when I saw this, it said, put on bowels of mercy. In other words, if someone wants to offend somebody, they should feel comfortable coming towards you.

[7:57] Because they know you'll forgive them, isn't it? Because they know you. They know you have bowels of mercy. Bowels of mercy. You won't stretch the matter. This one, I will kill him. This one, I will never. Bowels of mercy.

[8:12] Bowels of mercy. So, see that none render evil for evil unto anyone, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourself and to all men.

[8:25] Wow. This is so nice. This is just so nice, Christian. Nowadays, people don't go to this kind of scripture. What are they going to do for?

[8:36] And enemies might die. Don't talk us of abandon this kind of scripture. And when we read the Bible, we don't even see it. We choose this one, which is not talking about me.

[8:48] It's talking about somebody. Yeah. Well, let's go to our main stuff now. Then he gives imperatives. He said, rejoice evermore. Pray without season.

[8:59] In everything, give thanks. Let's all read it from verse 16. Let's go. So, rejoice evermore. Pray without season.

[9:11] In everything, give thanks. For this is the will of the Lord, Christ Jesus. Concerning you. Rejoice evermore. It's an instruction.

[9:21] These three things are supposed to characterize every Christian. Every Christian. These are basic traits of sound spiritual life.

[9:33] Rejoice evermore. Pray without season. And in everything, give thanks. Basic traits for every Christian. And it's supposed to show in your life as a Christian.

[9:45] But it's not even the rejoice. The pray. And the thanksgiving. But the adverbs. He says.

[9:58] He gives it adverbs. He said, evermore. Pray without season. In everything. Those adverbs make those commands very unique and very strong.

[10:14] It's a very strong command for every Christian. But permit me to latch on the middle one. Pray without season. Pray without season.

[10:28] In fact, about rejoicing in 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 11. In 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 11. It says that finally, brethren. Farewell. Be perfect.

[10:39] Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace shall be with you. Wow. Pastor, you know what got my attention?

[10:51] The end. You do this one. And this will happen. And the first. When he says that. Be perfect. Be of good comfort. It's another. As a matter of translation, he puts it.

[11:03] Rejoice. Or be cheerful. Be cheerful. In fact, in Philippians 4.4. It's another statement that I said. Rejoice. And I said. Again. Don't rejoice once.

[11:15] Again. I say rejoice. How many times? How many times? Again. How many times? Again. How often should I do it? Again. Once you finish doing it.

[11:25] Do it again. Again. Again. Again. Rejoice. Again. Evermore. So he said rejoice evermore. Then pray without ceasing. Pray incessantly.

[11:41] Pray continually. Romans chapter 12 verse 12. It says rejoice. Romans 12. Rejoicing in hope.

[11:52] Patience in tribulation. Continuing instant in prayer. These all continued in prayer. Acts 1.14.

[12:04] These all continued in prayer. Yeah. How often should we pray? Always.

[12:14] Praise. Yesterday I was trying to remember something. I read somewhere in it. It said pray anytime you feel like praying. For it to be a sin if you don't.

[12:26] Anytime you feel like praying. Pray for it to be a sin if you don't. Anytime you don't feel like praying. Pray. Because it's too dangerous to stay in that situation. Or that position. So anytime you don't feel like praying.

[12:39] Pray. Because it's too dangerous to stay. Not feeling like prayer. And anytime you feel like praying. Pray. Because it's a sin not to pray when you feel like it. Some of us. I said the other time.

[12:50] That you must. Shadow prayer in your life. And things must trigger. Sometimes you wake up at night. You are going to use the restroom. When you finish the restroom. Take the five minutes. Or two minutes.

[13:02] Just pray. In between. You have to shadow some seasons. When I'm doing this. I'll pray. Anytime I'm going to. Do this. I'll pray. Anytime. Just some. Maybe your lunch break.

[13:14] I'll spend some time praying. Your lunch break is one hour. At least. I want to spend. The 45 minutes eating. And then the. 10 minutes praying. And then the 5 minutes walking back to the office.

[13:25] Something. Pray. Anytime I hit. Not me. I'm just talking about you. Anytime I hit the treadmill. I'll pray. No. Those things are very good times to pray.

[13:38] And read. And listen to messages. That's the time you catch up for. Catch up with the message of the day. Catch up with the Sunday's message. Or catch up with fragrance.

[13:49] So that at least. There will be some fragrance in your life. Hallelujah. So.

[14:01] Pray. Jesus told them a parable. To teach them. How men always. Luke 18. 1. How men always. Ought to pray. And not to faint.

[14:12] He told them a parable. To this end. And he spoke a parable. Unto them. To this end. That men. Ought always. To pray. And not to faint.

[14:24] So prayer. Is an always ought. Ephesians chapter. Chapter 6. Verse 18. Is a praying with all prayer. Praying always. With all prayer.

[14:35] And supplication. In the spirit. Pray how many times. Always. Praying always. With all types of prayer. And supplication. And then. Colossians chapter 4.

[14:47] Verse 2. Continue in prayer. Please preach to somebody. With those three ways. Continue in prayer. What? Tell somebody. Continue in prayer.

[14:57] Tap them on the shoulder. If you can. Continue in prayer.

[15:12] So. That means. When you finish praying. What should you do? It doesn't mean. Do nothing. But prayer. Yeah.

[15:22] It doesn't mean. Do nothing. But prayer. Everything. Yeah. You cannot close your eyes. 24 hours praying. You can't. So it's not. It doesn't mean. Do nothing. But prayer.

[15:33] By means. Do nothing. Without prayer. Do nothing. Without prayer. You must be. In. The mode of prayer.

[15:43] In the mode of prayer. So prayer. Prayer can interrupt your shadow. You shadow for prayer. And you allow prayer. To interrupt your shadow. Pray always. Because. Your enemy.

[15:54] Is watching. So. If you tell people. That pray. Because. It really looks like. The demons are coming. The demons are coming after you.

[16:05] But that shouldn't be. Your motivation. To pray. Because. Much as prayer. Is a duty. Is also. A delight. Much as. Is an obligation. Is also.

[16:16] An opportunity. Much as. It is an instruction. Or imperative. Is also. An invitation. Yeah. So.

[16:28] Prayer. Is not just. Something. We have. To do. It's something. We get. To do. We get. It's an opportunity. It's a privilege.

[16:39] So. When we come together. We are praying. Take advantage. Because. Please. Remember this. It is. One of. One of the best things. That can happen to you. Is to be.

[16:50] In an atmosphere. Of prayer. This afternoon. I was talking. With my wife. Suddenly. Just something. Jumped. Onto me. A song. And then. The first phrase. Of the song.

[17:00] Is that I pray. Into the atmosphere. Yes. I pray. Into the atmosphere. The spirit of God. You are here. Prayer.

[17:12] Is. Not an obligation. It's an opportunity. Pray. Into the atmosphere. Of your family. Pray. Into the atmosphere. You are entering into. Pray. Into the season. Don't.

[17:25] Wait. For hands. To be laid on you. Your prayer. Can do the job. Hallelujah. Don't wait.

[17:36] To be called. It might not happen. Don't wait. Your prayer. Can do the job. Your prayer. When a man. Or a woman. Hits. On his knees.

[17:47] Or her knees. Before God. There is nothing. He cannot accomplish. Prayer. Prayer. It's. An.

[17:58] Exclusive. Privilege. Jesus. The son of God. Was always praying. To the stand. Pastor. He says that. And it came to pass. Luke. 3. 21.

[18:08] When the people. Were being baptized. All the people. Were being baptized. This is also. Being baptized. Pray. Today.

[18:21] We saw. In Revelation. Chapter. 4. It says. Then. I saw. A door. Was open.

[18:31] Oh my goodness. After this. I look. And behold. A door. Was open. In heaven. Jesus Christ. Secured it. Because. When he was being baptized. He was praying.

[18:42] And the heavens. Was open. Why is that? When you look at heaven. When there is nothing. You can keep going. It is not just guys. Spiritually. It gets closed.

[18:54] It says that. Jesus was praying. And the heavens. Were opened. When. Everybody. The reason why. It didn't open on the people. Was because they were just. Going to be baptized.

[19:05] They were just going. Hands were being laid on them. But Jesus Christ. When it was his turn. He engaged in prayer. Because he said. This is my opportunity. This is my invitation.

[19:16] This is. This is. This is. This is. This is. This is. happen. I get to do this every day. Something must happen. Something must happen. I'm going to push. I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray.

[19:34] It came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying. The heavens was open. You see that? He was being baptized and praying. Heavens was open. Don't wait for crisis before you pray.

[19:48] Don't wait for crisis before you pray. When a man and a woman are usually in love and they don't live together and they're actually in love, they can stay on their phone for a long time.

[20:09] For a long time. A long time. You can stay on their phone for so long you don't want to go. And then you hang up. And sometimes you are so tired but you don't, you don't.

[20:24] Sometimes when you are in love you feel like, let me sleep on the phone. I will, I will, I will, I will sleep. Unfortunately, I will confess that I haven't been able to do that to Jesus.

[20:38] I haven't been able to do, to stay on the line throughout. Even when you are tired, you are staying on the line. Because I love you too much to go. See, you want to stay on the line with God so that when there is a problem, that's not when you are going to look for the phone.

[20:54] You are already online. Ah! You are already on. There is a higher pedestal, a better way. When you count it a privilege, when you count it a blessing, you are in love with Jesus and you want to talk to him.

[21:10] This evening, we are going to get into prayer. We are going to get into prayer. You are going to just talk to him about anything. I told you, I told you, I told you.

[21:21] I have quoted the scripture three times tonight. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, it says, let us therefore come. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.

[21:33] And I told you, the boldly let us come boldly is an invitation. And I told you, the boldly there, other translations say confidently. And it's the same root word for freedom of speech.

[21:45] So, another translation says that, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence. Not with confidence. It's a freedom of faith. You don't have to be careful at what you say. Did you get that?

[21:58] Just say anything. Anyhow to go. You don't need to learn special words for prayers. It's better to have a heart and not ways.

[22:12] And not have ways. Than to have ways and not have. You come before God in prayer. He says that, come, it's an invitation. Talk. Start talking.

[22:23] Say, come, just start talking. Tell God anything. That's what we are going to practice here tonight. so that I don't have to give you a prayer topic. The prayer topic is in your heart. Be anxious for nothing but in everything.

[22:36] By prayer. Everything. By prayer and supplication. Let your request. So, I don't know your request. You see, you can pray for yourself better than others can for you.

[22:48] Do you understand? It says that, we do not have a high priest who is not touched by the feelings of our infirmity. I don't have the feelings of your infirmity. I can imagine.

[22:59] So, if you tell me that you are so frustrated about your job situation and it's stressing you, I feel sorry for you. But that's the best I can feel. But I might not even know the real depth of what you are going through.

[23:11] when such a person goes on their knees and talks to God about the matter, it carries weight because he is touched by the feelings of our infirmities.

[23:22] Our high priest can be touched by the feelings and if your feelings become your expression, your expression is your feelings, then it's a different story.

[23:35] I want to pray. What's the prayer topic? The one in your heart. Some of us, our prayer topic is, God, just use me. And today, to God record, you pray that prayer.

[23:49] Believers are people who pray. A Christian who doesn't pray is almost like a human being who is not breathing. Pray. We want to come before him. Lord, I pour my heart to you.

[24:02] I pour my heart to you. I believe you are my help. I lift up my eyes to the hills from where come my help. My help comes from the Lord. Lift up your eyes, somebody.

[24:13] Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry. We trust you've been encouraged, strengthened, and enlightened by the word. Stay connected by following David Entry on social media, including Instagram and LinkedIn.

[24:29] You can also listen to more messages on all major streaming platforms and the Carriage Church app. Don't forget to like, share, and be blessed. We'll see you next time.