pray...without ceasing?

we are going through 1 Thessalonians at church and last night Lloyd preached on the passage of "Be joyful always; pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes 5:16-18)

he brought up that if we want to know God's will for our lives, we have three pretty plain commands right here. but, most people will eventually figure out that these things are impossible for anyone to do....except in Christ Jesus. most people forget the dependent clause on the end of that section and instead just focus on the holy "to do" list at the beginning of the passage. The point is Jesus. He was the only person who actually did all these things and we can only even attempt them with His help.

"Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues 'without ceasing'; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an excercise, it is the life of a saint." -O. Chambers