Prayer is one of the greatest blessings believers enjoy. Through prayer, we can contact the Lord to fellowship with Him in a personal way.

There are many kinds of prayer mentioned throughout the Bible that we believers can and should practice to sustain our Christian life. In a previous post, we discussed how important it is for us to have dedicated times for prayer in a private place so we can pray without any interruptions. Today, we’ll discuss another kind of prayer using verses and notes from the New Testament Recovery Version.

Paul’s exhortation

The apostle Paul exhorts us to do something seemingly impossible in two verses in the New Testament.

In 1 Timothy 2:8, he says:

“I desire therefore that men pray in every place.”

And 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says:

“Unceasingly pray.”

How is it possible to carry out Paul’s exhortation to pray everywhere and even without ceasing? After all, we have to work, go to school, tend to our children, and take care of a multitude of tasks every day. Did Paul mean we should drop our responsibilities and spend all our time in prayer in some secluded place? Surely not. But Paul also wouldn’t have exhorted the believers to do something that wasn’t possible.

How can we pray in every place unceasingly?

Physically speaking, the one thing we all do everywhere without ceasing is breathing. No matter where or how busy we are, we’re constantly breathing. We don’t need to go somewhere private or stop our activity to breathe. We’d never say, “I don’t have time to take a breath.”

Breathing is a good analogy for the kind of prayer Paul is referring to in these two verses. It’s constant, automatic, and life-sustaining.

But practically speaking, how can we pray like this?

In Lamentations 3:55-56, the prophet Jeremiah equates calling on the name of the Lord to breathing. He says:

“I called upon Your name, O Jehovah, from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice; do not hide Your ear at my breathing, at my cry.”

The simplest prayer we can utter is calling on the Lord’s name: “Oh, Lord Jesus!” We can call audibly or silently, wherever we are. We can also pray short prayers like, “Lord Jesus, I need You. Be my patience right now.”

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Persevering to pray without ceasing

Of course, physical breathing is something we do naturally and automatically. But praying without ceasing takes some exercise on our part.

In the New Testament Recovery Version, note 1 on 1 Thessalonians 5:17 explains what it means to pray unceasingly:

“This is to have uninterrupted fellowship with God in our spirit. It requires perseverance (Rom. 12:12; Col 4:2) with a strong spirit (Eph. 6:18).”

 Romans 12:12, which is cited in the note above, says:

“Rejoice in hope; endure in tribulation; persevere in prayer.”

We’d all like to experience having uninterrupted fellowship with God in our spirit. But we need to realize that this takes perseverance.

Day by day, we need to build up a habit of praying without ceasing. Any habit requires time and perseverance, and this is no different.

Each day is full of new opportunities to exercise our spirit to call on the Lord, regardless of where we are or what we’re doing. We can call on Him while we’re driving, taking a test, working, or doing mundane chores. And we can also practice praying short prayers as we go about our day.

As we learn to persevere in prayer, practicing to call on the name of the Lord Jesus more often and at all times and places, this spiritual breathing will become more spontaneous and regular throughout our day.

Eventually, we’ll begin to pray in every place without ceasing. We hope you’ll be encouraged and strengthened in your prayer life by reading some of our other posts on prayer. And if you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version to read more notes on the verses we cited in this post.

Faith is essential to our Christian life. After all, 2 Corinthians 5:7 states that we believers “walk by faith, not by appearance”—that is, not by what we see in our environment or circumstances.

But when we’re facing difficulties, we may find it hard to put our trust in God and feel we don’t have enough faith to sustain us. When we find ourselves in this condition, what do we do? How can we practically walk by faith?

Today, we’ll focus on Matthew 14 with some accompanying footnotes in the New Testament Recovery Version to see what it means to walk by faith.

Peter’s experience

The Bible doesn’t just speak about faith in general terms. It shows us what faith looks like in real life. For example, one of the clearest accounts is found in Peter’s experience of walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-33.

After the miracle of feeding the five thousand, Jesus compelled His disciples to get into a boat and go before Him to the other side of the sea. Then He went up to the mountain alone to pray to the Father. During the night, strong winds blew, and waves battered the boat the disciples were in. That’s when Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost, and they became fearful. But in verse 27, Jesus said:

“Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Peter responded in verse 28:

“Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

In verse 29, Jesus simply said to Peter:

“Come.”

At the Lord’s command, Peter stepped out of the boat and, incredibly, he also began to walk on the water toward Jesus.

This shows an important principle: faith comes from the Lord’s speaking. Peter didn’t walk on the water because of a special gift or power he had; he simply responded to the Lord’s command.

Then verse 30 says:

“But seeing the strong wind, he [Peter] became frightened; and as he began to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me!”

 Note 1 on seeing the strong wind in the Recovery Version explains:

“Peter came down from the boat and walked on the water by faith in the Lord’s word (v. 29); however, when he saw the strong wind, his faith vanished. He should have walked by faith in the Lord’s word, not by looking at the circumstances (i.e., by sight). In following the Lord we should walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).”

The wind and battering waves had been there the whole time Peter was walking on the water. But the problem was that his focus suddenly shifted from the Lord and His word to the stormy environment around him. As a result, his faith disappeared, he became frightened, and he began to sink.

Of course, Jesus didn’t leave Peter to sink in the sea. Verse 31 says:

“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

In the Recovery Version, note 1 on doubt in verse 31 explains:

“Since the Lord said to Peter, ‘Come’ (v. 29), Peter should have stood on that word and should not have doubted. Hence, the Lord rebuked him. Faith comes from the Lord’s word and stands on the Lord’s word. As long as we have the Lord’s word, we should simply believe in His word and not doubt.”

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Faith comes from the Lord’s word

Peter began walking on water by faith in the Lord’s word. But the moment he looked at the strong wind, his faith vanished. He no longer stood on the Lord’s word. This shows us that focusing on our environment instead of looking at the Lord and His word causes our faith to disappear.

Peter’s story matches our experience. Like Peter, we may begin our day with the Lord, enjoying His Word and standing on it. But as the day goes on, we become occupied with looking at and considering the “waves and winds” of our troubling circumstances. That’s when our faith seems to disappear, and we begin to sink in doubt.

At such times, we shouldn’t be discouraged about our seeming lack of faith. Instead, we need to remember that faith comes from the Lord’s word. We should exercise to turn our eyes from our environment, look at the Lord Jesus, and stand on His word. We can do this by calling on the name of the Lord, asking Him to speak to us, or opening our Bible to read a verse or two. The Bible is full of God’s speaking to us, and we’re saved from doubt by simply believing His word. Then we can walk by faith, not by sight, even in the midst of our stormy situation.

If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here so you can read all of the notes on the verses mentioned in this post.

It’s nearly impossible to ignore the many distressing issues confronting us today. While health crises, violence, war, environmental disasters, and economic instability have always existed, because of modern technology, we’re constantly inundated by a continuous stream of anxiety-inducing updates. In the midst of this endless barrage, having anything resembling peace of mind can seem impossible, even for Christians.

But the Bible tells us that even in the face of the world’s trying circumstances, we believers can experience genuine peace. Today, we’ll discover the source of that peace by looking at key verses from the New Testament Recovery Version. We'll also see how we can experience this peace all the time.

The unique source of peace

The crucial thing we need to realize is that real peace can only be found in the Lord Jesus. Two verses in the Gospel of John reveal that Jesus is the unique source of peace.

1. John 14:27

In John 14:27, Jesus said to His disciples:

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

In this comforting verse, the Lord Jesus told His disciples not to be troubled or afraid because the peace He gives us is His peace.

Jesus makes a contrast here between the peace of the world and His peace. It’s obvious that the peace the world gives is temporary at best. Even the most well-intentioned efforts to establish lasting peace among people and nations fail miserably, leading to more unsolvable problems.

But the peace the Lord Jesus gives us is real and lasting. He said, “My peace I give to you.” Only the Lord’s peace is true peace, and He has imparted it to us. So we shouldn’t let our hearts be troubled or afraid. Instead, we should cling to this precious promise and experience and enjoy His peace.

2. John 16:33

In John 16:33, Jesus said:

“These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

In this verse, we see another contrast. In the world we have affliction, but in Jesus we have peace. Although we have been saved and regenerated, we still live in this world, which is full of turmoil and suffering. But Jesus assures us, “In Me you may have peace.”

Where is peace? It’s in Jesus. Looking for lasting peace in anything or in anyone else is futile. We must come to Jesus to have true peace.

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Enjoying real peace daily

It’s easy for us to get overwhelmed by the many distressing things going on around us in the world today. But one practical way to help us experience the Lord’s peace is to first be aware of what we’re filling ourselves with. The Lord frankly told us that in the world we have affliction. This means when we fill ourselves with the world and the things of the world, our hearts will be troubled and even afraid.

We’ve all experienced feeling this way after we’ve spent time on our phones getting caught up on breaking news, scrolling endlessly on social media, and reading people’s opinions about everything. Being informed about current events is one thing, but being completely absorbed with them is another. More and more, the things we see online are designed to grab our attention and stir up strong emotions, usually negative ones.

When we feel unsettled, disturbed, and fearful, we should realize we’ve been focusing on the world and filling ourselves with the things of the world. In that moment, our need is to turn to the Lord in our spirit and contact Him, the source of peace.

The world is full of affliction, but Jesus also said that He has overcome the world. Instead of spending so much time on our phones occupied with the insurmountable problems of the world, we can focus on Jesus and be filled with the One who has overcome the world. We can do this by calling on His name, singing to Him, talking to Him in prayer, or reading His Word. This is how we can experience and enjoy Him as our real peace.

If you live in the United States, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version to help you experience genuine peace in the Lord Jesus.