When I first read this verse I was completely overwhelmed by its implications. How in the world can one possible pray 24/7? This goes even beyond Martin Luther who I believe famously said that he had so much to do on one particular day that he was going to have to spend three hours in prayer in order to accomplish it all. Isn't God asking a little too much of us?
The key to understanding this verse is the imperfect tense of the word "pray". This indicates that we are to pray repeatedly at frequent intervals, not constantly without a break.
In the context, when the Holy Spirit brings certain people or circumstances to our mind we are to rejoice (v 16), "give thanks" (v 18), and pray for whoever or whatever the Spirit prompts to bring before the Father in prayer.
Sometimes as we are walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), we will encounter people or circumstances that should cause us to momentarily stop what we are doing and pray. It doesn't always have to be out loud nor does it have to be long. The Lord's prayer can be said in less than 30 seconds and that is a model for us from Christ.
My dad's father, "Grampy", was the master practitioner of this kind of prayer. When I was with him as a boy he used to regularly embarrass me by breaking into prayer in all kinds of public situations. Whether it was a person we encountered in some kind of spiritual need or the Holy Spirit reminding him to pray about a particular person in crisis, my grandfather taught me how to live this verse. I don't apply it as frequently or as well as he did (he's with the Lord now), but I hope someday my children and grandchildren will say that I embarrassed them in the very same way.
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