Pray Without Ceasing

I enjoyed playing 'Operation' as a child and now with the children. It is good fun to try and remove the plastic body part without setting off the buzzer. 

Maybe I would do better in life if I, like the man in the game, had an internal buzzer. One that would buzz to warn me I was going to do, or think or say something wrong. 

With every sun comes a new day and for me there also comes the opportunity to make new and better choices. I have written before how I believe that these choices are mine alone to make.

I am reading a book at the moment which is challenging me to rethink how I love. I must not blame others for the choices I make, no matter what others have done. The author, Danny Silk, encourages making the choice for love to stand, no matter what the other person does or says. Danny suggests that nothing should stop my love and my love should not be dependent on being loved in return. 

So, what has love got to do with praying without ceasing? Or 'Operation'?! 

I do not always find it easy to love unconditionally. There are times when all of my being would like to react. I need help and guidance to respond with the choice to love unconditionally. 

If I keep on praying, I am talking to someone who has set the example of perfect love. A love that is completely given without condition, a love that asks for nothing in return, a love that absolutely accepts us as we are. 

As I pray, I am keeping in communion with One who can be my internal buzzer and give me strength to keep going, to keep my love on, to keep putting others first, to keep to the truth, to keep trusting, to keep on showing kindness, to keep on looking for the best and to keep on hoping.

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Give thanks in all circumstances."

1 Thessalonians 5:16 - 18 (New Living Translation)