Date: 27-07-25
Preacher: Ps Gabriel Teo
Title: Pray Without Ceasing

Pray Without Ceasing

To continue the theme of Praying Without Ceasing, we had Ps Gabriel Teo speaking for the first time in SCC this morning. The biblical reference he used was from 1 Thes 5:17.

He took much time in his preamble to establish the what of praying unceasingly. It was certainly refreshing to hear from a speaker that our God does not want us to be so busy getting caught up with presenting our issues to Him in our prayer request but He also wants us to have quiet moments to LISTEN to Him. Also, because we serve a GOD WHO PRACTISES UNCEASING PRAYER Himself, we should do likewise as His disciples. The above notes in capital letters were my 2 key takeaways this morning.

Other than the 2 points listed above Ps Gabriel also shared that we have been given the authority to pray. To pray unceasingly would also mean to have a 2-way heart-to- heart communication with God at all times. This means praying in the spirit too.

Ps Gabriel then shared 3 reasons why we should pray without ceasing. The first is our dependence on a God who is unchanging unlike all others including humans. He said that if sometimes we feel God is distant it is not because of Him but the reason is always within us. The way to bring God back is to pray immediately.

The second reason is building a close relationship with God. This involves meditating on His Word to understand His heart.

The third reason is for spiritual alertness and strength. Here, he made a strong case that we shouldn’t just pray for God’s help and guidance when things go wrong but we must also pray for a blessed future too. To illustrate, Ps Gabriel used the analogy of who should be seated in the driver’s seat of the car which we are in. We should always ensure that God is the driver and if that is the way, we can never end up with the wrong destination

Ps Gabriel then shared 3 Hows we can pray unceasingly. The first is to integrate prayers into our daily lives. The second is to use helpful tools and the third is to pray with others.

Here, Ps Gabriel shared a very pertinent example on how to pray unceasingly according to the will of God. In this instance he quoted a verse from the Bible and one can then paraphrase and declare what it means according to God’s will. This runs in parallel to praying in the spirit.

Ps Gabriel concluded by bringing in the biblical reference that he started with and this time, I believe the congregation saw the verse with renewed spiritual eyes.

Amen!