1 Thessalonians 5:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Pray at work, on the road, in the field, at the plow, when lying down to sleep, and when rising from sleep. Do not put off prayer until Sunday or a feast. Do not choose a place for it.

The Godhead is not confined by place: "In His hand are the depths of the earth" (Ps 94:4). Therefore the prophet David, praying every day and every night, made no distinction of day or place.

Rather, with tears he said and stirred himself up: "In all places of His dominion, bless the Lord, O my soul" (Ps 102:22).

So you also, beloved, do not wait for some appointed hour or day. Do not be constrained by place. As has already been said, pray in every place. Pray at home, pray when you come to church, and pray wherever you happen to be.

Pray in every place of His dominion.

What, then, was our customary exhortation? To abide in unceasing prayer with a sober mind and a watchful soul.

For prayer and psalmody, as for many other things, every time is suitable.

Thus we attain recollection of soul when, according to what was said above, we ask God for success in every action.

We give thanks to Him who grants active strength and keep the aim of pleasing Him. If we do not use such a method, how can what the Apostle said be reconciled?

He said both, "Pray without ceasing," and, "we worked night and day in labor and toil" (2 Thess 3:8).

One must pray always and at every occasion.

When you eat bread, give thanks to Him who gave it. When you put on clothing, thank Him who granted us coverings.

When the day comes, thank Him who gave us the sun.

When you look at the sky and see the beauty of the stars, pray to the Master of visible things. Worship God, the excellent Craftsman, Who "made all things in wisdom" (Ps 103:24).

When you see that the whole animal creation is held in sleep, again worship Him who, through sleep, releases us from the continuity of labors.

In this way you will pray without ceasing, not by enclosing prayer in words, but by drawing near to God through the whole course of life, so that your life may be continuous and unceasing prayer.

Answer: It is when a man is counted worthy of continual abiding in prayer.

For as soon as he attains this, he has ascended to the height of all virtues and has already become a dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

If someone has not surely received this grace of the Comforter, he cannot freely accomplish the abiding of this prayer.

For, as it is said, when the Spirit dwells in someone, he will not cease from prayer, because the Spirit Himself always prays (cf. Rom 8:26).

Then, whether the man sleeps or wakes, prayer is not cut off in his soul. Whether he eats, drinks, sleeps, or does anything else, even in deep sleep, the fragrances and vapors of prayer are emitted by his heart without labor.

Then prayer is not separated from him. At every hour, though it is not outwardly manifested in him, it secretly performs divine service within him.

For one of the Christ-bearing men calls the silence of the pure prayer, because their thoughts are gentle voices by which they secretly hymn the Hidden One.

This is impossible when peace among the thoughts is absent. Only in the one whose powers of soul have been pacified by knowledge can unceasing prayer be well ordered.

71. The mystery of prayer is not accomplished at a fixed time or in a fixed place.

If you define the work of prayer by hours, times, and places, then outside these, perhaps as if by right, you will spend your time in vain pursuits.

The limit of prayer is the unmoving abiding of the mind in God. Its work is the movement of the soul among divine things.

Its end is the cleaving of the heart to God, so as to be one spirit with Him, according to the Apostle's definition and word (1 Cor 6:17).

So also we must think about the prayer which the Apostle commands us to offer without ceasing. It is impossible for a man to remain in prayer without interrupting it by day or by night.

Time is also needed for other works and for the necessary cares of managing one's household. There is a time for labor, a time for conversation, a time for eating and drinking, and a time for rest and sleep.

How, then, can unceasing prayer be understood except as frequent prayer? Prayer offered often is counted as prayer offered without ceasing.

Therefore let your frequent but brief prayer not be multiplied with needless words (Mt 6:7), as the Holy Fathers also teach. Blessed Theophylact wrote in his Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew: "It is not fitting to make prayers long. It is better to pray little, but often."

And in Chrysostom's Homilies on the Epistles of the Apostle Paul it is written: "He who speaks superfluously in prayer does not pray, but speaks idly" (Homily 24 on Ephesians 6).

Moreover, blessed Theophylact says in his Commentary on the same Gospel passage: "Needless words are idle talk."

The Apostle spoke well: "I would rather speak five words with my understanding than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Cor 14:19). That is, it is better for me to offer a brief prayer to God with attention.

It is better than uttering countless words without attention and only filling the air in vain with my words and voice.

Moreover, the apostolic words stated above, "Pray without ceasing," must be referred to prayer offered by the mind. The mind can always be directed toward God and can pray to Him without ceasing.

Begin now, O soul, little by little to undertake the training set before you. Begin in the name of the Lord, according to the Apostle's exhortation: "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Col 3:17).

That is, do everything, as it were, with a good intention. Do it not so much for your own advantage, even spiritual advantage, as for the glory of God.

Then in all your words, deeds, and thoughts the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, will be glorified.

First explain to yourself, in a brief interpretation, what prayer is. Prayer is the turning of the mind and thoughts toward God.

To pray means to stand before God with one's mind, to look upon Him steadily in thought, and to converse with Him in reverent fear and hope.

Therefore gather all your thoughts. Lay aside all outward cares of this life, and direct your mind toward God.

Whoever pronounces this Jesus prayer because he needs it should pronounce it as constantly as breath constantly comes from the nostrils. Then, after a year, the Holy Spirit will dwell in him. After two years, Christ, the Son of God, will enter into him. After three years, the Father will come to him.

Having entered, the Holy Trinity will dwell in him. Prayer will swallow up the heart of this man, and the heart will swallow up prayer. He will begin to repeat this prayer unceasingly, day and night. He will be free from all the snares of the demons in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory with the Father and the All-holy Spirit, always, now and ever and unto ages of ages.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Pronounce this Jesus prayer without ceasing, whether you are standing or sitting, eating or drinking, traveling or doing something else. Pronounce it without ceasing in every place, in every activity, at every time, and before every activity. Apply effort to it.

Let one word stir up and encourage another. Arm yourself like a mighty warrior, like one firmly holding a spear in his hand. Overshadow your thought with it unceasingly. Even when you relieve bodily need, let your mind guard and instruct itself with secret prayer.

Truly, as the sun in heaven shines brighter than the stars, so unceasing prayer, the Jesus prayer, and other spiritual struggles are more worthy than all earthly things, works, and reasonings.

There are many so-called wisdoms on earth, but all of them will remain on earth. The deepest wisdom of all is to save one’s soul, since it raises the soul to heaven, into the Kingdom of Heaven, and sets it before God.

One must cover oneself with humility of mind and beware of vainglory and self-opinion. For vainglory and self-opinion destroy all virtues.

When the tongue and lips grow weary, one prays with the mind and heart, since noetic prayer flows from long prayer with the tongue. From noetic prayer comes prayer of the heart. When the mind grows weary of crying out, and the heart begins to ache, then one should gradually turn to psalmody.

Pronounce the Jesus prayer quietly, so that only you hear it. Do not think about this or that worldly and corruptible thing. Pray with all your soul and without laziness, for the sake of your salvation.

Prayer is nothing other than withdrawal from the visible and invisible world. Enclose your mind in prayer and gather all your thoughts and feelings. Wherever the body stands, there the mind, thoughts, and feelings should remain.

Never reason during the time of prayer, but turn away from all thoughts and cares. Then prayer is successful and saving for a man.

The holy fathers say, “A man who prays only with his lips, but neglects the mind and does not guard the heart, prays to the air and not to God. He labors in vain. For God attends to the mind and zeal, not to many words.”

Therefore one must pray with all one’s strength: with soul, mind, and heart, with the fear of God, and with one’s whole being. Noetic prayer does not allow either empty fantasies or unclean thoughts to enter within.

If you wish to pray with the mind and heart, I will teach you. Receive this firmly and thoughtfully. Listen, my beloved.

First one must perform the Jesus prayer with the voice, that is, pronounce it with lips and tongue, so that only oneself hears it. When the lips, tongue, and feelings are filled with audible prayer, then audible prayer stops by itself and passes into a whisper.

Then the mind must be instructed, attend closely, and remain with the sensations in the throat. In this way noetic and heartfelt prayer will begin by itself to be performed unceasingly, to rise, and to act at every time, in every activity, and in every place.

But above all one must learn, attend closely, and remain in noetic prayer, apart from all thoughts and cares. Whoever does not learn the noetic Jesus prayer will not be able to retain the Jesus prayer constantly.

But whoever learns it will have it joined to the heart. Then it will pour forth like an ever-flowing spring. It will constantly awaken a man both when he is awake and when he sleeps. When the flesh grows drowsy and falls asleep, this prayer will wake him, boiling up within. The man will remain wakeful like an angel.

This prayer also extinguishes the flame of many passions. Therefore this noetic and heartfelt prayer is great. Prayer with the lips, however, is quickly forgotten. The lips and tongue grow tired, and the flesh grows drowsy. But the spirit never sleeps.

Only if we are diligently doing something necessary, or thoughts trouble the mind too much, or drowsiness and sleep overpower us, then one should pray diligently with lips and tongue, so that the mind may attend to the voice. When the mind and thoughts again become quiet and humble, then one should again pray with mind and heart.

Such prayer leads to salvation more quickly than the reading of psalms, canons, and prayers. As an adult knows more than an infant, so the Jesus prayer is able to save more quickly than hymnody.

For those who have advanced, who are experienced and perfect, unceasing prayer, prayer, and struggle are most important of all. All works may be reduced to the most necessary needs, without which one cannot manage. For those in the middle, psalmody, reading, and handiwork are appropriate. For beginners and the inexperienced, psalmody, handiwork, and heavy labor are appropriate.

During prayer and during all supplications, one must remain apart from every desire, whim, thought, and care. One must lay aside all earthly reasonings and inventions, and gather one’s mind and thoughts into prayer and the thought of God. Otherwise one angers God by laboring in vain, instead of propitiating Him.

I have often wondered how quickly the ancient holy fathers acquired grace and were saved, and how many were saved. Our fathers loved nothing so much as prayer.

They brought extreme grief to the evil devil and his demons through unfeigned love, guileless humility, humility of mind, the thought of God, unceasing struggles, firm long-suffering, and the other commandments and virtues of the Lord.

By these they reached perfection, were counted worthy of grace and miracle-working, and were saved. If we act in the same way, we too will reach perfection and be saved. To our God be glory always, now and ever and unto ages of ages.

We cannot resist these enemies by ourselves. Therefore we must arm ourselves against them by prayer and the help of God that comes from it. We must stand and be strengthened, as the Psalmist says:

"To You I have lifted up my eyes, O You who dwell in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hands of their masters, and as the eyes of a maidservant to the hands of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us" (Ps 122:1-2).

2. One must pray in every place. Thus the Apostle says: "I desire that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (1 Tim 2:8).

3. It is possible to pray while standing, sitting, walking, resting, doing something with the hands, in solitude, and in assembly.

For always, in every place, and in all our works, even while eating and drinking and in God-pleasing conversations, we can lift our mind and heart to God.

We can present our needs to Him with humility and faith, ask mercy from Him, and say: "Lord, have mercy."

Thus Moses, in the midst of the numerous people whom he had led out of Egypt, saw them in dire straits and sang to God with mind and heart.

Although his verbal prayer is not depicted in Scripture, God answered him: "Why do you cry to Me?" (Ex 14:15).

Hezekiah, the pious king, prayed while lying on his bed, and God heard him (cf. Isa 38:2, 4ff.).

Jonah prayed in the belly of the whale and was heard by God (cf. Jonah 2:2-11).

The three youths prayed in the fiery furnace and were saved (cf. Dan 3:24-49, 50-94).

For God looks not at the outward sign and position of the body, but at the heart, humility, faith, and the heart's desire.

Therefore it is written: "The desire of the poor," that is, of the humble, "You have heard, O Lord. Your ear has attended to the devotion of their heart" (Ps 9:38).

Unceasing prayer is commanded by God Himself. The Savior of the world said: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7).

“Will not God bring about vengeance for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will bring about their vengeance speedily” (Lk 18:7-8).

The Apostle, repeating the teaching of the Lord, says: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). “I desire, therefore, that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without anger and disputing” (1 Tim 2:8).

By the name “men” the Apostle understands Christians who have reached Christian perfection. Only perfect Christians can pray without anger and disputing, that is, in deep peace, in the purest love for neighbor, without the slightest remembrance of wrongs against the neighbor or condemnation of him, and without distraction by extraneous thoughts and fantasies.

Such people can offer prayer to God in every place and at every time, lifting and raising to Him holy hands: the mind and heart, purified from passions and sanctified by the Spirit.

It is evident that unceasing prayer cannot be the possession of a beginner monk. Yet in order to become capable of unceasing prayer in due time, he must accustom himself to frequent prayer. Frequent prayer, in its time, will pass by itself into unceasing prayer.

Since the Jesus prayer is most convenient for performing unceasing prayer, the beginner should turn to the Jesus prayer as often as possible.

Has the shortest free moment fallen to you? Do not kill it in idleness. Do not kill it by using it for some unreal and empty fantasy, or for some vain and worthless occupation. Use it for the practice of the Jesus prayer.

If, because of weakness, or more precisely because of the property of fallen nature, you happen to be carried away by seductive fantasies and thoughts, do not lose heart and do not grow slack. Having repented before God of your light-mindedness, and having acknowledged before Him your fallen nature and your being carried away, fall down mentally before His mercy. Take measures of caution against seductive fantasy and seductive thoughts.

Whoever does not accustom himself to frequent prayer will never receive unceasing prayer. Unceasing prayer is a gift of God, granted by God to His servant and minister who has been tested in faithfulness.

“It is impossible to draw near to God except by unceasing prayer” (Venerable Isaac the Syrian). Unceasing prayer is a sign of God’s mercy toward a man. It is a sign that all the powers of the soul have turned toward God.

“Have mercy on me, O Lord, for to You I cry all the day. Make glad the soul of Your servant, for to You I have lifted up my soul” (Ps 85:3-4).

From unceasing prayer the ascetic comes to spiritual poverty. By becoming accustomed to ask God’s help unceasingly, he gradually loses hope in himself. If he does something successfully, he sees in it not his own success, but the mercy of God, for which he unceasingly implores God.

Unceasing prayer guides one to the acquisition of faith, because the one who prays unceasingly begins gradually to sense the presence of God. This sensation can little by little grow and become strengthened to such a degree that the eye of the mind will see God in His providence more clearly than the bodily eye sees material objects of the world. The heart will sense the presence of God.

One who has seen God in this way and sensed His presence cannot fail to believe in Him with a living faith manifested by works.

Unceasing prayer destroys craftiness by hope in God. It introduces holy simplicity, teaching the mind to abandon diverse thoughts and the forming of schemes about oneself and neighbors. It always keeps the mind in poverty and humility of thought, which constitute its instruction.

The one who prays unceasingly gradually loses the habit of fantasy, distraction, vain anxiety, and excessive care. He loses them the more the holy and humble instruction is deepened in his soul and rooted there.

Finally, he may come to the state of childhood commanded by the Gospel, and become foolish for Christ’s sake. That is, he loses the falsely named reason of the world and receives spiritual understanding from God.

By unceasing prayer curiosity, suspiciousness, and mistrust are destroyed. Because of this, all people begin to seem good. From such a pledge of the heart toward people, love for them is born.

The one who prays unceasingly remains unceasingly in the Lord. He knows the Lord as Lord. He acquires the fear of the Lord. By fear he enters into purity, and by purity into divine love. The love of God fills its temple with the gifts of the Spirit.

Without this help, without the influence of grace upon us, we become capable of every possible fall into sin and of all mortal sins. There is one means for salvation: to be watchful at all times and to pray, that is, unceasingly to call upon the help of God.

“Such prayer,” say the holy fathers, “is a remedy that kills not only the passions, but even their activity. As a physician treats the sick man’s wound with a plaster, while the sufferer does not know how the healing occurs, so the Name of God, when invoked, kills all the passions, although we do not know how this happens” (Saint Barsanuphius).

“Prayer does not consist only,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “in standing at a certain hour and bowing bodily before God, and reading written prayers. It consists in praying at every time and in every place, with mind and spirit. You can raise your mind and heart to God and ask mercy and help from Him while walking, sitting, riding, sitting at table, carrying out tasks, in solitude and among people. For God is in every place.”

But to worldly people unceasing prayer seems impossible, incomprehensible, not at all obligatory, and belonging to monks, recluses, and schema-monks. They think it does not belong to people who are constantly occupied with intellectual work and must spend free time in pleasures and entertainments for rest.

Before doubting the possibility and benefit of unceasing prayer, one should of course try it and test it. Then those who doubt will be convinced that prayer of the heart not only does not hinder work, but helps it, even if the work is performed not only by the hands but also by the mind.

One can call upon the Lord not only with the lips, but with the heart alone, especially during reading and study. For the Lord knows the heart and looks only at the heart.

If someone is occupied with such work that he cannot secretly invoke the Name of God in his heart, which is hardly true but only possible, then even remembering God is enough, for it replaces prayer.

Therefore, during work or conversation, before work and after conversation, that is, at every time and in every place, one can and must call upon the Name of God for help.

Only such constant prayer compels us to live on earth with a heavenly life. It helps us reach this chief aim in Christian life, because it preserves us in purity, delivers us from enemies and temptations, makes us patient and strong for trials, and finally warms the heart.

Let none of the Christians think that only monks must pray without ceasing. No, all Christians are obliged to fulfill this commandment.

Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople writes in the Life of Saint Gregory of Thessalonica that the latter had a beloved friend, Job, a simple and virtuous man. Once, in conversation with him, Gregory touched upon unceasing prayer and the need for laypeople to learn it.

The saint spoke at length and cited as proof the words of Saint Gregory the Theologian, that “all Christians ought to remember the Name of God in prayer more often than they breathe air.” But the elder Job was not convinced.

Afterward, when Job was praying alone in his cell, an Angel sent by God appeared to him with a rebuke. The Angel reproached him because he had argued with Saint Gregory and opposed an evident work on which the salvation of Christians depends.

The Angel proclaimed to Job in God’s name that henceforth he should attend to himself and beware of saying anything against this soul-saving work. He should not even keep an opposing thought in his mind, nor allow himself to philosophize against it.

Job immediately hastened to Saint Gregory, fell at his feet, asked forgiveness, and revealed everything that the Angel of the Lord had told him.

Beloved, God has not commanded us anything impossible. He has commanded only what we are able to do. If unceasing prayer were impossible, there would not be so many people in the world who fulfilled the saving commandment.

The father of Saint Gregory of Thessalonica, the wondrous Constantine, lived at court and was called the father and teacher of King Andronikos. He was occupied daily with affairs of state, in addition to his duties toward his family and large estate. Yet, with all this, he was inseparable from God and attached to unceasing noetic prayer.

“Do not tell me,” writes Saint Chrysostom, “that it is impossible for a man occupied with work to spend the whole day in prayer. It is possible, and very easy. In prayer we need not so much sounds as thought, not the raising of hands but the raising of the mind, not outward appearance but inward meaning. One can offer long prayers while going to the marketplace and walking through the streets. One who is sitting and occupied with work can dedicate his spirit to God.”

What prayer, then, do the holy fathers call noetic and unceasing? It is when the one who prays gathers the mind inside the heart, and from there, by a voiceless and silent word, sends up his prayer to God. He glorifies Him and gives thanks. He contritely confesses his sins before Him and asks from Him the spiritual, psychic, and bodily blessings he needs.

One must pray not only with word, but also with the mind. And not only with the mind, but also with the heart, so that the mind may clearly see and understand what is pronounced by word, and the heart may feel what the mind is thinking.

It has become customary to call the Jesus prayer noetic prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

In their rules, the holy fathers change some words so that the prayer may also be for neighbors, and so that petitions may be received through the intercession of the Theotokos. For this they say: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners. Or: Through the Theotokos, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Do not forget, brothers and sisters, this commandment of Christ and the Apostle. Practice unceasing prayer. Study this important work for the salvation of our souls. Every work is difficult at first, but when you become accustomed to it, you will know how sweet the Name of the Lord is.

The holy Apostle Paul would not have bound us to prayer if it were extremely difficult and impossible. Let us work with the body, and at that same time pray with the spirit. Let our outer man perform his earthly tasks, and let the inner man be wholly dedicated to the service of God.

This is the angelic life. The Angels have no voice, but with the mind they offer unceasing glorification to God. This is their whole work, and their whole life is dedicated to it.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps 33:9). Amen.

On the other hand, every Christian is a temple of God, in whom the Spirit of God dwells (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Rom 8:9). This Spirit, always abiding in him and interceding, always prays for him with inexpressible groanings (Rom 8:26), teaching him unceasing prayer.

The very first action of the grace of God, which turns the sinner toward God, is manifested in the striving of his mind and heart toward God. Then, after repentance and the dedication of his life to God, the grace of God, which had acted from without, descends into him through the mysteries and abides in him. Then that striving of mind and heart toward God, in which the essence of prayer lies, becomes unchanging and constant in him.

It is manifested in different degrees and, like every other gift, must be rekindled (2 Tim 1:6). It is rekindled according to its own nature: by the labor of prayer, and especially by patient and fitting participation in the prayers of the Church.

Pray without ceasing. Labor in prayer, and you will acquire unceasing prayer, which will then begin to be performed in the heart by itself, without special strain.

It is clear to everyone that the commandment of the holy Apostle is not fulfilled merely by performing the appointed prayers at fixed hours. It requires constant walking before God, the dedication of all deeds to God, who sees all and is everywhere present, and the rekindling of a warm turning toward heaven by the mind in the heart.

The whole of life, in all its manifestations, must be permeated by prayer. Its mystery lies in love for the Lord. As a bride who loves the bridegroom is not separated from him in memory and feeling, so the soul joined to the Lord by love remains with Him without departure, turning warm conversations to Him from the heart.

“He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor 6:17).

I remember that Basil the Great resolves the question of how the Apostles could pray without ceasing in this way. In all their activities they thought on God and lived in unceasing devotion to God. This disposition of spirit was their unceasing prayer.

Saint Basil the Great was asked, “How can one pray without ceasing?” He answered, “Have a prayerful disposition in the heart, and you will pray without ceasing. Work with your hands, but lift your mind to God.”

The Apostles went throughout the whole earth. How many labors they had! And yet they prayed without ceasing. They themselves wrote this commandment. The spirit of faith, hope, and surrender to the will of God is what must be rekindled in the heart.

The Savior commanded us to enter our chamber and pray there to our Father in secret. This chamber, as Saint Dimitri of Rostov interprets, means the heart. Therefore the Lord’s commandment obliges us to pray secretly, in the heart, to God with the mind.

This commandment extends to all Christians. What, then, does the Apostle Paul command when he says that we must “pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and supplication” (Eph 6:18)? He commands noetic prayer, spiritual prayer, and he commands it to all Christians without distinction.

He also commands all Christians to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). It is impossible to pray without ceasing except by noetic prayer in the heart.

Thus one cannot dispute that noetic prayer is obligatory for all Christians. If it is obligatory, then one can no longer say that it is hardly possible, for God does not oblige us to the impossible. That it is difficult is true. But that it is impossible is false.

Indeed, every good thing is difficult. All the more must prayer be so, since it is for us the source of every good thing and its sure support.