All Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Go To 1 Thessalonians 5
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
And who observed and noticed the cause of his [i.e., the psalmist’s] groaning? “All my desire is before You.” For it is not before men, who cannot see the heart, but is before You that all my desire is open! Let your desire be before him, and “the Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.” For it is your heart’s desire that is your prayer. If your desire continues uninterrupted, your prayer continues also. For it was not without meaning, when the apostle said, “Pray without ceasing.” Are we to be “without ceasing” in bending the knee and prostrating the body and lifting up our hands, such that he says, “without ceasing”? If that is what “without ceasing” means, then I do not believe it is possible. There is another kind of inward prayer without ceasing, which is the desire of the heart.
