#4943 – Watchful & Thankful

Good morning people who devote yourselves to the right kind of prayer.

Colossians 4:2 NIV Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

The word devote means to be strong, steadfast, endure, to be earnest towards, persevere, to be constantly diligent. It’s not a passive word. It is intentional, deliberate and strong.

And this is not something that can be forced on us. Paul writes, devote yourselves. This is our choice, our decision. This is our pursuit, our goal, our focus.

And the primary thing that we are to devote ourselves to is prayer.

Prayer is one of the most under-used spiritual realities. It is also one of the most misunderstood spiritual realities.

Prayer is not a shopping list or a Christmas wish list that we constantly present to God. In fact, it is not about us getting what we want at all – this is not prayer, this is demanding.

Paul says prayer involves being watchful and thankful.

Prayer is about looking to see what God is doing and what He is wanting to do. Prayer is about spiritual sight and spiritual hearing. Prayer is about being spiritually minded.

Prayer is birthed in and saturated by being thankful. Prayer is based on gratitude toward God for who He is, what He has done and what He is doing. Prayer is a focus on God, and a focus on God will always overflow in being thankful.

This is the kind of praying that we are to devote ourselves to.