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1 Thessalonians 5 · a question people ask

"Pray without ceasing." (5:17). How can anyone pray without ceasing?

In the text

The letter doesn't say how. It gives the words with no more explanation, among other short words: "Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks" (5:16-18). It doesn't say what praying without ceasing looked like for its readers, and these notes don't say what it looks like for anyone today.

The verses

“Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Thessalonians 5

1 Thessalonians 5: Always rejoice

1 Thessalonians ends with grace: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." (5:28). And near its end it asks its readers to do what it says we did. In 2:11, "we exhorted, comforted"; now they are to "exhort one another" (5:11) and "encourage the faint-hearted" (5:14), with the same two Greek verbs.

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions