SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/31/2017
6:05 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 The
Speech of Prayer
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
4:2
Message
of the verses: “2 Devote yourselves
to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”
John MacArthur begins this section
with some wonderful words about prayer: “It
is fitting that Paul begins with prayer, because it is the most important
speech the new man can utter. Prayer is
the strength of the believer’s fellowship with the Lord and the source of his
power against Satan and his angels (cf. Eph. 6:18). Through prayer, believers confess their sin,
offer praise to God, call on their sympathetic High Priest (Heb. 4:15-16), and
intercede for each other. Prayer from a
pure heart (Ps. 66:18) is to be directed to God (Matt. 6:9), consistent with
the mind and will of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 6:18), in the name of Christ, and
for the glory of the Father (John 14:13).”
When we look at the first two words
of this verse I can say that it is much stronger when one looks at the Greek
language. “Devote yourselves” is from proskartereo,
and this is a compound word which is made up of kartereo, and this means to be steadfast or it can mean to
endure. There is an added preposition
which intensifies the meaning of this word.
MacArthur states “The verb means ‘to be courageously persistent,’ ‘to
hold fast and not let go.’ Paul is
calling strongly on believers to persist in prayer. They are to ‘pray at all times (Eph. 6:18;
cf. Luke 18:1), ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess. 5:17), and be devoted to
prayer (Rom. 12:12). By so doing, they
follow the example of Cornelius (Acts 10:2) and the apostles (Acts 6:4).”
We looked at what praying without
ceasing means in a former SD, and we quoted Dr. Warren Wiersbe who said that
praying without ceasing is keeping the phone to heaven off the hook so you can
use it when you need to use it.
We will close this SD by looking at
two parables that our Lord spoke illustrating the importance of persistent
prayer:
“1 ¶ Now
He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and
not to lose heart, 2 saying, "In a
certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. 3
“There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ’Give me
legal protection from my opponent.’ 4
"For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself,
’Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will
give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me
out.’" 6 And the Lord said, "Hear
what the unrighteous judge said; 7 now,
will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night,
and will He delay long over them? 8 “I tell you that He will bring about
justice for them quickly (Luke 18:1-8a).”
“5 Then He said to them, "Suppose one of
you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ’Friend, lend me
three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has
come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ’Do not
bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I
cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8
"I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything
because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and
give him as much as he needs. 9 "So
I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock,
and it will be opened to you. 10
"For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to
him who knocks, it will be opened (Luke 11:5-10).”
5/31/2017
6:23 PM
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