Recently I have been reading through Colossians and have reached Chapter 4. For several days I have not been able to get past v2 which says:-
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."
The key words for me are - devote, prayer, watchful, thankful.
Why can't I get past this verse? Hmm...obviously God is saying something to me!
Am I devoting myself to prayer - methinks not! Ok, God is telling me to do so.
A definition of devote from the Oxford Dictionary is:
To give one's time, energy etc to somebody or something.
The definition tells me that prayer requires time and it requires energy. Why is it easier to devote my time and energy to watching tv, taking photographs (that often takes a lot of energy!), doing puzzles etc etc, whilst prayer, Bible Study and spending time with God gets put on the sidelines?
That is a hard question to answer. The answer would reveal my selfishness, my short-sightedness and my weakness. Surely I am not those things?? The stark reality - yes I am. Of course, I also know that there is an enemy who makes sure that there are things to distract me from devoting myself to prayer.
I cannot work and strive to suddenly become a devoted prayer warrior, but I can begin by asking the Lord to place a desire in my heart to do so. As with any discipline in life, I can also start with small steps, even if it is only devoting 5 minutes a day to prayer.
Now I am going to write out this verse on a card and keep it next to my chair where I sit and watch TV!
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."
The key words for me are - devote, prayer, watchful, thankful.
Why can't I get past this verse? Hmm...obviously God is saying something to me!
Am I devoting myself to prayer - methinks not! Ok, God is telling me to do so.
A definition of devote from the Oxford Dictionary is:
To give one's time, energy etc to somebody or something.
The definition tells me that prayer requires time and it requires energy. Why is it easier to devote my time and energy to watching tv, taking photographs (that often takes a lot of energy!), doing puzzles etc etc, whilst prayer, Bible Study and spending time with God gets put on the sidelines?
That is a hard question to answer. The answer would reveal my selfishness, my short-sightedness and my weakness. Surely I am not those things?? The stark reality - yes I am. Of course, I also know that there is an enemy who makes sure that there are things to distract me from devoting myself to prayer.
I cannot work and strive to suddenly become a devoted prayer warrior, but I can begin by asking the Lord to place a desire in my heart to do so. As with any discipline in life, I can also start with small steps, even if it is only devoting 5 minutes a day to prayer.
Now I am going to write out this verse on a card and keep it next to my chair where I sit and watch TV!
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