Colossians 4:2 - "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful"
Sure, we know we should.
We know it would support a deeper Christian walk.
We understand there is so much to pray about - for ourselves and others.
But we still don't pray enough.
Unfortunately, our experience doesn't often include an immediate reward that motivates more prayer.
We are built with an internal cause and effect reward trigger. And let's face it, we don't get the immediate payoff we'd often like to see with prayer.
A verse like this memory verse from Colossians can help.
You see, what we really need with prayer is to stick with it long enough and often enough to witness its power.
The verse from Colossians describes it this way - DEVOTION.
Let's take just a minute to think about anything in our lives to which we are 100% devoted.
What if we put similar levels of effort and intentionality into our prayer lives?
Beyond the devotion to prayer this verse suggests, it also gives us insight into HOW we should pray... our posture in prayer.
You will notice that the verse suggests we remain watchful and thankful.
We are to remain watchful for His answering our prayers. The motivation to be more devoted to prayer will come through our ability to witness His work around us. When God answers prayers - our own or others' - we get the opportunity to prove that He is listening. When we see Him working in our lives and in those around us, our faith is galvanized in His tangible presence around us.
We are to remain continuously thankful. Why? When we are thankful for what we have... what has been given us by the Lord in the first place... we have much less room to think about what we do NOT have. A spirit of gratitude builds joy in our hearts for His provision and sovereign plan, even while we hope and dream for more. We know that our worldly experience is a flash of time primarily to invest in our coming eternal experience.
Apply This:
Memorize this verse this week to help remind you to:
1. Devote yourself to prayer - more time and more frequently
2. Be watchful for His answering prayers - yours and others'
3. Be grateful for all that you have as you make less of what you do not have
