Being Watchful With Thanksgiving
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)
Col. 1:9-19; I Chron. 16:8-11; Matt. 6:7; Eph. 6:18; I Cor 16:14
What Is God Saying?
The letter of Colossians opens with, "We always thank God when we pray for you.” Paul's purpose in writing this letter is to expose the false teachings that were creeping into the churches. He stresses the deity of Jesus Christ and says very plainly that he is God. Then, he offers one of the greatest prayers in the Bible for these dear friends in the troubled waters of false doctrine (Col. 1:15-19). It is a deeply moving prayer. It calls for strength, endurance, patience, and joy.
Then, over and through it all, like a healing and penetrating light, there is the spirit of thankfulness. It is only to be expected, then, that there would be one more appeal (as found in our text) to continue steadfastly in prayer, to be watchful, and to be thankful. Colossians, with its magnificent truths about the real Christ, is bracketed with prayer. We would do well to bracket our own life and thought with steadfast and watchful prayer.
How Does This Apply To Us?
A consistent practice of prayer with thanksgiving shows we have a God to trust, a God to share. Prayer is very life. Prayer needs to be a time of watching--discovering and caring in a watchful way for the needs of others, discovering and dealing in a watchful way with the shortcomings and problems that lurk in our own hearts, discovering and taking in new gifts of grace and joy from God's inexhaustible storehouse. Continue steadfastly, be watchful, and thankful. Thankfulness opens a window in a stuffy room. It makes our time with God refreshing and joyful, and it leads to something better. Thankfulness opens the windows of Heaven and we see that God is much more, and God has much more for those who love him. Steadfast, watchful, thankful-a good mix for a great blessing.
Pray With Me
To be with You, Lord, in moments of quiet receptivity, is the way to live. It is life itself. To be still and know that you are God is to gather strength for times of testing and to see at the end of the way a light that shines and a hand that beckons. Prayer gives us a reason for never giving up.
I thank You, Lord, for making me see how prayer must be continued steadfastly. Let me continue in prayer that my spirit may be nourished by your presence and the light of your truth. I thank you, Lord, for making me see how prayer must be watchful. Let me be awake when I talk with you. Help me to remove the beginning of disloyalty, the seeds of disobedience, the smallest cloud of discouragement.
I thank you, Lord, for making me see that prayer must be with thanksgiving. To be calm and grateful, to be quiet and confident, to be yours, this is enough. Grateful for your love, O God, I rise to prayer's highest and most bracing level. Thanks be to God!
In the name of Him who is Your own unspeakable gift. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Pray with alertness. Have done with giving God only the tired end of the day. Morning is when we wake up and are alert. The sun's rays make the landscape come alive. Dark and pervasive night is conquered with light. When all else fails, read the instruct10ns-"Continue steadfastly in prayer, be watchful, be thankful."
