“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” — Colossians 4:2
“I can hardly pray for fifteen minutes,” a friend lamented, “much less be devoted ALL the time.”
We can all relate to that.
Devoting ourselves to prayer apparently means more than an occasional, quick request shot up to heaven in a moment of desperation (although that needs to happen too). According to Scripture, we can spend serious, sincere time in prayer continually. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
How?
The Quaker Thomas Kelly wrote in his Testament of Devotion, “There is a way of ordering our mental lives on more than one level at once. On one level we can be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, and meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a more profound level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.”
We can be about our business, working, cleaning house, running errands, tending to family, taking care of all the “external affairs,” and still, speak to God, asking Him to bless the people around us, yielding decisions and actions to Him.
“Be watchful and thankful,” says today’s verse.
As you go about your daily business, pull the clothes out of the dryer, turn the corner at a busy intersection, or rush into a meeting, watch for God at work, in people, in circumstances, in your heart. And thank Him for the blessings in your life. For the clothes you wear, the people in your care, for your job.
Be thankful that in a difficult moment, you can look up and see clouds, blue sky, or a silky night adorned with stars. Thank Him for your daily breath, for giving you life.
As you face each task, chore, or duty, turn your thoughts toward Him, asking for His strength, His will, and His love for other people. You will find yourself in a constant state of prayer.
“Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).” —Ephesians 6:18, Amplified
