"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." - Colossians 4:2
When searching the meaning of being devoted, I found that to be devoted is to demonstrate loyalty or devotion; to set something apart for a purpose; to be dedicated to it. To be devoted means to be focused on that particular thing or cause, almost exclusively. It means you are working to achieve its end goal.
This is the first thing we are told to do in the above scripture. Then we are told to be watchful. What does "be watchful" mean and why are we told to be? Paul wants us to simply be alert, be on guard, to look out, to be wide awake. He advises us to be watchful because of the deceitful vises and schemes our enemy, the devil, uses to throw us off our game. He poses to steal our faith, our confidence and our hope in God. He wants to kill our drive to fulfill our God-given purpose. Lastly, we are told to be thankful. I'm pretty sure we all know what that means, right. We are to give thanks to God for everything, big or small. To express gratitude for what God has done and is doing in our lives.; for the many blessings He has showered upon us.
We are called to be devoted in prayer. This means we should be intentional about our prayer life. Setting apart time for the sole purpose of praying; which to me is scheduling time to talk to God about what is going on in our lives or in this world. Being dedicated to transforming our lives and the lives of others through the power of prayer. You see without a prayer life the enemy has the upper hand. We are defenseless against his wicked schemes. We become unfocused and unable to accomplish what God has called us to do. Being devoted to our prayer life gives us the power to combat the enemy. Now, let us pray!
Prayer: Lord God, thank You for who You are. Thank You for the blood of Your Son Jesus, that cleanses us from our sin. We ask that You forgive us and we thank You for Your forgiveness. Lord God, we thank You for Your grace, which is sufficient for us. We thank You for Your mercies, which endures forever. We thank You Lord, for Your eternal love that You express when You sent Your Son to die for us. We thank You for Your peace that surpasses all understanding. We thank You Father God for Your unspeakable joy, for the joy of the Lord is our strength. We thank You for Your kindness, for Your goodness, and for Your gentleness. Lord God, we thank You for Your patience with us. We bless You Lord, for Your faithfulness, for You are truly faithful to Your promises for our lives.
Lord, we give thanks to You for being a God who desires to hear from us. It is through prayer that we communicate with You, Lord. We ask that You help us to be devoted and intentional about establishing a life of prayer. A life of prayer that has the ability to transform our lives. A devoted life of prayer that will knock the enemy off his feet. We desire to have a life of prayer like Jesus, who showed us what being devoted to prayer really means and who prayed even in His last moments on earth. Father God, help us to be watchful of all the wicked devices of the enemy that have the potential to get us off track. Since we know what his job is, we will use one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal, which is prayer. There is no other weapon to combat his evil tricks other than Your Word. Thank You for moving on our behalf when we pray. It is to You Lord that we give all glory, honor and praise because You are worthy. This is our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.
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