PRAYER, A WAY OF BEING WITH GOD

Prayer seems to be Paul’s term for the deep inner posture of one’s being toward God in open receptivity and pliable responsiveness. It is the term he uses when he exhorts us to “pray constantly” (1 Thess 5:17 RSV), to “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Col 4:2 RSV), to “be constant in prayer” (Rom 12:12 RSV).

Praying without ceasing obviously presumes an inner posture of being for its fulfillment, a posture that undergirds all the activities and relationships of life.

With this term Paul seems to call us not to isolated actions but to a habitual orientation of our being toward God at the deepest levels.

~ M. Robert Mulholland Jr. Invitation to a Journey, page 90.