Col. 4:2
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Devoted to Prayer = Praying Continually

Col 4:2 And 1Th 5:17 

 

Introduction

 

When it comes to memorizing Bible verses most of us like to go for those verses that say a lot in very few words.  Right?  I was always amazed at how well some of the kids at AWANA in our previous church could rattle off these really long verses.  While some of us leaders would joke about memorizing

John 11:35 --- Jesus wept. 

 

This morning we will take a look at two “short” but powerful texts.  The challenge is to interpret them without diluting the meaning and consequently the life application. 

 

Colossians 4:2

2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

 

1 Thesalonians 5:16-18

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

The first thing that grabbed my attention in the First Thessalonians passage relates to how often we say that we want to know God’s will for our life.  Following the commands of this text will give you a good start:  Be joyful – ALWAYS,  Pray – CONTINUALLY, and give thanks – IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.  It says that this is God’s will for our lives. 

 

In many ways the foundational principles for all three of these are the same:

    Do these things:  All The Time! 

  

Today we will focus on the second command in the text [Pray Continually] and hope that it will help us understand the other two by default.  I also want to note that this morning’s message will take on a slightly different format.  I have a few comments to share with you about  Prayer.  Then, we are going to spend some extended time in smaller groups praying together.  Basically, we are going to “practice what I preach.”  My goal is to encourage and to challenge you to think about prayer as well as to encourage you to be do-ers of the Word and pray more for your family, and pray more for your church, and your friends, etc. etc.

 

One common definition of prayer is that  Prayer is simply talking with God.  And a few common questions about prayer include:  What do we say to God? –He already knows everything we are going to say.   Why should we pray for people, places, things, etc.? --  He’s got everything under control, why bother Him with such trivial prayers?   Does praying really change anything?     To help us answer these questions and others that are like them, let’s examine what prayer is for and what are mindset should be about it.

 

John Piper states in his book Let The Nations Be Glad, that “we cannot know what prayer is for until we know that life is war.”  He explains that weakness in prayer is largely due to our neglect of this truth.  He uses the illustration that prayer is like a wartime “walkie-talkie” to aid the mission of the church as it engages in spiritual battles.  Yet, what do millions of Christians do with prayer?  As Piper notes, we turn that “walkie-talkie”into a domestic intercom to buzz for more comforts!  God has given us prayer as a tremendous gift; so that we can ask Him for all the support that we need in helping to expand the kingdom.  When we forget that we are engaged in spiritual warfare, our prayers lose focus.  In fact our prayers become self-focused and with that we are not much good in helping to expand the kingdom.   

With that kind of perspective on prayer:  there are two key words from the text verses that I’d like to focus in on.  1) DEVOTED and  2) CONTINUALLY.

 

We should ask ourselves:  “Am I devoted to prayer?”  It does not mean that prayer is all I do – any more than being devoted to my wife means that all I ever do is spend every waking moment at her side.  However, my devotion to her affects everything in my life.   It should work the same for our prayer life; being devoted to prayer doesn’t mean all we do is pray, but it does mean that there should be a pattern of praying that demonstrates sincere devotion.  This won’t look the same for everyone, but it will be something significant.  God calls us to be devoted to prayer. 

 

Surveys show that a high percentage of Christians say they pray daily….

We need to be honest with ourselves about this.  I think most of us would agree that there are some forms of prayer that though they may be used daily are really not in the category of devotion to prayer.  Praying only as a crisis enters your life – would not be a pattern of devotion to prayer.  Praying only at meal times is not really a devotion to prayer.  A short “now I lay me down to sleep” prayer is probably not demonstrating a devotion to prayer.    (please don’t get me wrong)   All of these are good in that they are recognizing God’s active role in our lives; however, the question is, does this kind of prayer life demonstrate a devotion to Him, a desire to know Him more personally, a desire to see Him glorified and his kingdom expand?  That’s what we need to ask ourselves and that is our challenge.  

 

Let us not forget that Jesus Christ is the foundation of all prayer.  There would be no sense in analyzing why or how to pray if Christ had not died on the cross for each one of us.  That is why we pray “in the name of Jesus”!  He is our mediator to God.

 

So, how does “being devoted to prayer” relate to “praying continually”?  With devotion there is an attitude of dependence and priority that effects all we do.  Therefore, when we are devoted to prayer, we pray or have the mindset of prayer continually.  It also means that we don’t give up on prayer.  Just because we don’t see an answer as quickly as we would like doesn’t mean we should stop.  We Pray on.  We Pray without ceasing.

 

I think it is also important to note that some discipline in regular prayer times helps stimulate a devoted prayer life.  If you want to have a day by day continual prayer life; you need to have some disciplined regular meeting time with God as a foundation.  There are many biographies of great Christian leaders as well as Bible characters who dedicated regular times of prayer into their daily lives.  Their ministry was built on a foundation of prayer that enabled them to go through each day with an appropriate focus and outlook on life and the world around them.  They prayed continually. 

 

Some may ask:  I don’t know how to have a regular prayer time.  I have copied an excellent article and will distribute it to you later.  It is for you to use as a tool.  There is no “right” technique or order to follow.  The key is to come humbly before God and seek His perspective on life and the world we live in.  Prayer humbles us as being needy and glorifies God as being all sufficient. 

 

Prayer is important because it refocuses our perspective and our priorities.  With prayer God shows us the hidden areas of our lives and the world around us.  Prayer calms our fears and anxieties.  To the question: does prayer really change anything?  The answer is a definite YES.  It changes us!  We focus less on ourselves and our problems and we get our eyes focused on Him.  That’s a huge accomplishment.  Especially when we think back to what was said about Life being a war.  Life is full of spiritual battles and we certainly need to face them with the right perspective.

 

Even then so, some may say, I am only one.  Look at the world.  Look at our own town.  What good will it do for me to pray for change?

 

Well, some of the greatest revivals in the history of the US and around the world started with a very small number of people praying.  In the US the first Great Awakening in 1735 and the second Awakening in 1795 both began with a group of pastors prioritizing times of prayer for their churches and their communities. 

 

Perhaps the most inspiring prayer movement and subsequent revival was the one that began in 1857.  It began with one man and he was not a pastor.  His name was Jeremiah Lamphier.  He had a burden for his city, New York City.  He posted notices throughout the business district that he was going to hold a prayer meeting.  Only six people came (and this was NYC, with a population of nearly a million).  But Jeremiah was persistent and he continued to meet and pray.  Soon, the noon time prayer meetings started to catch and after several months there were several prayer meetings all over the city that involved thousands.  The revival spread up and down the coast and across the country and across the seas. The results included thousands coming to Christ! 

 

Each of these revivals started through the efforts of individuals who were not looking at life with their own interests in mind, but instead, they developed a relationship with God that caused them to see life with a Christ-like view.  They didn’t use their “walkie-talkie’s” for comforts in the den; they called upon God for all the firepower available.  This reminds me of a phrase I heard a long time ago shared by a missionary; responding to someone who said that they could not send any more money, all they could send was their prayers.  The missionaries response was:  that is like a soldier complaining, “I am out of bullets”, “all I have left is a nuclear missle.”  

 

Scripture teaches us that prayer is powerful, it makes a difference, and that we are commanded to be devoted to a life of praying continually.

 

I know of some in our church and community that have a real burden to pray for this community and the local churches.  Could they be a Jeremiah Lamphier for Viroqua and Vernon county?

 

If you share a similar burden, I encourage you to let me know and I’ll get you connected.

 

For the next several minutes we are going to gather in smaller groups and pray for our church and for our people, and for our communities, and for whatever else God brings to mind. 

  

-- Break into “Prayer Groups” and then I’ll share with you some general instructions and lead us through a few minutes of prayer time.

 

Benediction

 

Jeff Gordon:  Grace EFC   Viroqua, WI            7/25/2004