Date: 30-11-25
Preacher: Rev Ramachandran 
Title: Pray Without Ceasing

Pray Without Ceasing

The main biblical reference for Rev Rama’s message was taken from 1 Thes 5:16-18 with other related quotes from Colossians 4:2, Romans 12:12 and Philippians 4:6. He shared he learnt Jesus’ prayer habits and put them into his own practice so when one does that, you know the Holy Spirit is right behind him as he spoke.

The good Rev pointed out the church’s annual theme is one that not many churches talk about these days and in a survey that he quoted, an average Christian spends 7 to 10 minutes in prayers per day. He ‘joked’ that most Christians pray 3 times per day; during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then he shared that Ps Cho Yonggi, who led the biggest church in South Korea with a membership of more than a million, could do it because he insisted to pray undisturbed from 6 am to 8 am daily and not even the president of South Korea could disturb him. Rev Rama also shared that in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He said, ‘when you pray’ and not ‘if you pray’, thus suggesting that prayer is not an option for Christians. 

Next, he made a comparison between our human breathing with the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Both are always functioning in the background of our lives and praying without ceasing is like that too. Thus Rev Rama spent much time articulating the relevance of prayer in a Christian’s life.

He then expounded on a list of 7 points to illustrate the importance of prayer. These are 

1. Prayer is our connection to God
2. Prayer keeps our hearts aligned with God’s will
3. Prayer invites God’s power into our weakness 
4. Prayer protects our hearts from temptation and spiritual attack 
5. Prayer cultivates intimacy and dependence 
6. Prayer invites the peace of God into our anxious moments 
7. Prayer is the breath of Christian life

After the above, Rev Rama shared three points on what praying unceasingly is NOT and these are:

1. It does not mean constant verbal prayer 
2. It does not mean withdrawing from life
3. It does not mean emotional intensity every moment 

He then discussed what praying unceasingly means and the first of which is based on a covenantal intimate relationship with God. He quoted John 1:12 and Romans 8:15 in support. This relationship is one that have a constant awareness of God, a constant conversation with God, a constant dependence on God and a constant honour towards God.

The second point on what it means to pray unceasingly is that prayer must be a priority. It is at this point that Rev Rama shared that Jesus Himself prayed very regularly although He doesn’t need to as He was God. He decided to study Jesus’ prayer habit which I shared in my introduction and which I feel is the crux of a Christian life that makes a difference. It is worth reproducing. The analysis is on Mark 1:35 with the breakdown of the biblical reference on the left and its corresponding meaning shown on the right below.

The third point of what it means to pray unceasingly is that prayer must be recurring and the final point of what it means to pray unceasingly is to respond to life spiritually.

In conclusion Rev Rama encouraged the congregation to adopt unceasing prayer as a lifestyle and he ended with sharing an experience which his own daughter encountered while working at the trauma centre of a hospital in the US. He shared that his daughter was so convinced by the Holy Spirit’s prompting that a patient who was brought in brain dead should be given another lease of life that she went beyond the scope of medical procedure to certify him dead. That created a miracle to save a man’s life.