In the four gospels, we see in several intances that Jesus would release His disciples for their night of sleep, while He would go away to pray for the night.

During His darkest hour in the garden, the disciples could not stay awake to pray with Him, no matter how crucial was the moment.
This is explained as being caused by the weakness of the flesh, before the time when the power of God, the Holy Spirit, was poured upon all flesh, from pentecost on.

I have been and go on pursuing for several years now, the aim of becoming such a disciple of the Lord Jesus-Christ, who knows how to fulfill such experience of service, in the discipline of ceaseless prayer.
Such spiritual State is what I ubderstand maturity of the one Faith to be deployes in one's life and in the Church's victorious ground.

Ceaseless prayer secures what Jesus describes as being:

"“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jn 3,5-8

Paul is also quite clear from his own walk with the Lord, in echoeing that the Holy Spirit is the driving force of such discipline, keeping us going even when we have no clue as to how to proceed:

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
Rm 8, 26-30

The key to such discipline seems to be:

"...the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

Those "groanings which cannot be uttered" is the music that I ceaselessly fail to rejoice the Lord with. I go on uttering my pain, when in fact, all that is needed is my silent breathing of the Spirit into my attention and action.

-Please Lord, have mercy upon me and us all sinners and set me free to serve You and the Church in the complete measure that You've given me-

As I wrote earlier, I am seeking how to grow into praying ceaselessly, as the main exercise into the completion of the measure I am given of Christ. No more, no less and I am quite far from such completion, as I find myself thorned between the possibility of such maturity and the impossibility of my existantial-animal nature to comply with such spiritual basic need.

Can we share the experience of the Holy Sprit's power, love and wisdom in the midst of His family.
The Holy Spirit, the disciple and the Church become overcomers in answering God's calling by meeting Presence-to-presence with God, in the simplicity of our personal and communal devotion to our Savior, Lord and Brother Christ-Jesus?

In conclusion, the ceaseless prayer goes on in our spirit by the Holy Spirit, with or without our participation.
I am of the opinion that "the inner zone" of genuine ceaseless prayer is the only where and the only way for the children of God to remain aware of our participation into heaven's offer to heal humanity.

Please, let us pray until connectivity of the All-Mighty emerges in all of His glorious simplicity of our being into His Being and of His Being into ours, personally and communally...

...may all blesiings be with us all...
Benoit Couture

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There has been some interesting replies to this conversation at:
http://www.ccel. org/node/ 788
Here is my latest reply:

Thank you Lord for all who are adding thoughts and experience.. .

All of your inputs are very nutritional for my spirit.
So far, the lesson that I find speaking to me the loudest from this
thread, is that silence is necessary for the sake of listening to
God, until the genuine two-ways inner-state settles in the mutual
abiding of I in the Lord and He in me.
This is what I have come to know and to call:

"The quietening silence of patient wisdom".

What I mean to convey with that expression is that the silence of
prayer is not empty and isolated. This silence is the potency of
reverence in the state of worship, praise and thanksgiving, being
inspired into me for the sake of guiding my search of God.
This state of reverence is how and when the Holy Spirit is free to
move with all that He has to offer us, as the comforter, the feeder,
the teacher and the leader.

With this dialogue going on, along with many others, it is becoming
clear that such a live contact with the Lord is where I shall
discover how to remain personally and directly aware of every word
that proceeds from God's mouth, each time that He does speak in
matters that are appointed for me to hear and to feed from.

So perhaps that praying ceaselessly first refers to my attention and
awareness settling as one into the focused listening that comes from
the maturity of the one Faith, one baptism, one Spirit and one
Father of all?

"Dear All-Mighty, guide us to the inner chamber and teach us the
worshipping silence that allows Your words to feed our hearts and
spirits, and teach us how to recognize when You are pleased and when
You are not.
Keep us strong in Your joy when You are pleased and show us how to
swiftly grow in humility and obedience when You are not pleased.
Also, I ask that You keep us up in the movement of Your Spirit, so
as to lead our seeking and finding you in our fellowship, be it here
in this forum or anywhere that You have us meet with other brothers
and sisters.
Do release Your anoiting in such a way I pray, that Your deployment
may go on leading all of Your children in the celebration of Your
presence, where no one needs to teach no one, because of Your new
covenant by which everyone, from the smallest to the greatest, know
You personally and directly because of Your love for each one.
Please, carry our awareness and attention to the full measure of
Christ, which You give to all of Your children in different sizes,
and teach us all to love one another in the manner that honors You
and by which You can manifest to the world that we are Your's...amen
to Your Yes in us all...

...may all blessings be with us all...
Benoit