Colossians 4:2-4 - Being Devoted to Prayer

Colossians 4:2-4 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

Prayer, what a glorious thing! What a wondrous thing! What a blessing we have to be able to go before the very throne of the Lord Most High and talk with Him about whatever we feel like! So often we tend to treat prayer like a last resort when in fact it should be our first.  If Christ is the foundation of our life, then communication with Him is the mortar holding the building of our life together. Prayer is the hardware that holds our joists together as we lift the frame of our lives up.  Prayer is more than just words we speak when we know nothing else to say. It is the direct discourse between ourselves and the architect of Life.  Without that communication with the Lord, we will soon find ourselves in trouble since the only way we can know His will, His perfect and holy will for us, is to ask Him about it.

Prayer is there not just for asking for things, but for thanking Him for things and spending quality time with Him.  If the only time you were to talk to your friends was when you were asking for something, soon you would have no friends. God does so much for us that it is only right that we acknowledge His work and the things which He has accomplished for us and for others.  Without giving God thanks for things, without learning that spirit of thankfulness, we miss out on much of the amazing life around us that God blesses us with.

Prayer is for outreach as well. We all know people whom we want to share God's message with and we all know people with whom we need to share God's message, but there just does not seem to be a way. Prayer – that direct communion with God – will lead the way to a place where, an opening, a time when we can share God's good news and it will be effective. Without that time and place, that opening, we are just making noise and making a nuisance of ourselves to these hard cases that God is needing to work on before any impact can be made in their life. Prayer helps us with this evangelism. Prayer helps us to focus ourselves on the sharing when we need to share it, that we are not stuttering or looking foolish but instead speaking clearly and addressing what needs to be addressed in their lives.

Prayer is for ourselves too. Prayer helps us evaluate ourselves and our walk with Christ, to find if we are able to communicate clearly with Him and about Him or not. Prayer helps us find those dead spots in our life and clear them out, often giving us the tools needed to removed the junk and detritus that we never knew existed. Prayer is a more important aspect of our lives and our walk with the Lord than we think. This week then, lets relearn to pray, lets focus on our prayer life as we shift our focus off ourselves and back onto the Lord Most High yet once more. Lets use this magnificent tool that God has blessed us with, and lets use it well!

My God, is any hour so sweet
From blush of morn to evening star,
As that which calls me to Thy feet—
The hour of prayer?

Lord, till I reach yon blissful shore,
No privilege so dear shall be
As thus my inmost soul to pour
In prayer to Thee.
                         ^{Charlotte Elliott, 1836.}