Pray Without Ceasing. Impossible?

How/when do you pray?

I grew up in a home where we recited memorized prayers as a family before a meal, after a meal, and before going to bed. This tradition continued with our own family—except for the after-the-meal prayer. Now, living in a home without children present, I pray spontaneous prayers when I get up in the morning flat on my face. This needs explanation: I started out my mornings flat on my face on the floor several years ago. It was a good position to stretch my neck muscles. Later, I figured this was also a good time to pray--humbly. I continue to pray our family, “Come Lord, Jesus, be our guest...” before meals. I pray during devotions and before going to bed at night. If I get up during the night, which happens more than I would like it, I pray for whoever comes to mind before falling back asleep.

You may be thinking, “She prays a lot.” Okay, each prayer takes maybe 30-60 seconds or less. Of course, when there is drama or virtual trouble or pain with family or friends, it is easy to pray constantly. As a matter of fact, sometimes, I cannot stop pleading with God to heal, fix it, or do whatever will take the pain away.

There is a Bible verse that reads, “Pray without ceasing.” When I first read this, I thought IMPOSSIBLE. However, I think it is telling us that we need to feel so connected to God that he hears our sighs, knows our longings, feels our joy.

Confession: Even though prayer comes naturally for me when alone, I still feel uncomfortable with spontaneous prayer with others—concerned that my words won’t sound right.

What about you? Do you fold your hands, get down on your knees, pray while you’re walking, only use memorized prayers, or cry out with any words you can think of?