Colossians 4

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

Life can become very hectic and busy at times.  Sometimes our schedules can get so packed with activities that we feel as if our heads are spinning.  Spending time with the Lord in His Holy Word and in prayer, however, must be at the top of our list of things that we do each day.  Nothing spiritually worthwhile can be accomplished in our lives without the help of the Lord and without the power of prayer.  In Colossians 4:2 we are told to devote ourselves to prayer.  Not only should we set aside a special time each day for prayer and the reading our Bibles, but we need to have an attitude of prayer throughout the day.  We need to have a constant awareness of the Lord's presence with us each and every moment of the day.

We must never become weary of spending time in prayer in God's Word; but we must be passionate, steadfast, and watchful in our prayer lives.  We must never discontinue our prayer times with the Lord.  We must pray earnestly that we will grow in our personal relationship with the Lord.  We must pray earnestly that we will grow in our ability to reflect Jesus in our lives and that we will grow in practical holiness.

Colossians 4:5 tells us that we must also pray that we will "be wise" in the manner in which we act towards those who are not believers in the Lord Jesus.  We must "make the most of every opportunity" to let our lives shine for the Lord.  The only way we can do that is through the power of prayer.  Nothing worth while can be accomplished in Jesus' name without prayer.  In addition to this we may and must come to the Lord with all of our needs. The Lord welcomes us with His open arms and is willing to meet our every need.  Finally, we must also express our praise and thanks to the Lord through our prayers.

We must not only pray for ourselves, but we must also pray for others.  Little is known of Epaphras spoken of in Colossians 4:12.  He apparently was a servant of the Lord who had completely yielded his life to the Lord.  Epaphras also seemed to have been a man of prayer.  He was "always wrestling in prayer" for the Colossian Christians.  God had laid the Colossian Christians on his heart, and Epaphras considered it his joy and service to pray for them.  Epaphras prayed that they would "stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured."

We too can have a prayer ministry for others.  We like Epaphras can pray that those individuals on our prayer list will grow in spiritual maturity and that they will "stand firm in all the will of God."  We can pray for others when they are going through difficult times that they will be "fully assured" of God's precious promises to always be with them.

We need to pray about everything.  Are we or someone we know in need of healing?  We need to pray!  Are we or someone we know going through a time of physical or emotional pain?  We need to pray!  Are we or someone we know weighed down with past failure?  We need to pray!  Have we or someone we know sinned?  We need to pray! Is there some problem in our lives or in someone else's life that seems beyond human ability to remedy?  Take it to the Lord in prayer!  I Peter 3:12 says, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their prayer."