PT-4 "The Speech of Prayer" (Col. 4:2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/3/2017 9:54 PM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-4 “The Speech of Prayer”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Colossians 4:2

            Message of the verses:  “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;”

            We finally get to move to the second part of this verse which is when we pray we are to be “keeping alert.”  We are to stay awake and not fall asleep during our prayer time.  When my wife and I were living in Aruba a little over eleven years ago we prayed before we went to bed, and I can remember on more than one occasion when one of us would actually be praying and in the middle of a sentence we would fall asleep.  When Jesus was praying in Gethsemane His disciples fell asleep when He was praying as He asked them to stay awake while He was praying, and praying in great agony.  

            Paul is speaking in a broader way here than falling asleep physically.  MacArthur writes “He also means that believers should look for those things about which they ought to be praying.  Christians sometimes pray vague, general prayers that are difficult for God to answer because they do not really ask anything specific.  To be devoted to prayer requires something specific to pray for.  We will never persistently pray for something we are not concerned about.  And to be concerned, we must be alert to specific needs.”

            Lastly we look at a third element in prayer which is “an attitude of thanksgiving.”  Five times Paul has written about gratitude in this letter, (1:12, 2:6, 3:15, 3:17 and here in 4:2).  The following is a list of spiritual blessings and privileges we can be thankful for:  First be thankful for God’s presence (Ps. 75:1).  Second believers are to be thankful for God’s provision.  Third, believers are to be thankful for God’s pardon (Romans 6:17).  Forth believers are to be thankful for God’s promise: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).  Fifth, and lastly believers are to be thankful for God’s purpose as seen in Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

6/3/2017 10:13 PM