Devoted to prayer
Preach on a subject I have preached many times
Prayer is an immense privilege for us, whether we are praying from within or we verbally
No one can stop us talking with our heavenly father except ourselves
What's your prayer life like?
How many prayer meetings do you have?
Do you know how many church prayer meetings we have?
How much time do you spend praying when you pray?
What do you pray for?
Paul’s instruction on Colossians is clear and direct.
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
Colossians 4:2-4
We find on Acts 2 the early church prayed. They knew how to devote themselves to prayer and they also knew the results of devoted prayer.
Acts of the Apostles 2:42-43
Devoted
- Give all or most of ones time or resources to (a person or activity)
“I wanted to devote more time to my family"
When I was younger I heard the phrase a lot
Prayer changes things
I have to say I don't fully agree as it depends on who you pray to
I heard a story recently from a lady who days she prays to her dead mother. Don't think she's going to answer
The God we pray to changes things and more so when we pray from a place of faith.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:16
Interesting here that James mentions
Confession
Accountability
Healing
Earnest or devoted prayer and how it affects the results of prayer.
Personally I think our prayer meetings are the best meetings of the week.
Paul is writing to the Colossian church and the Church in Laodicea from Prison, prison in those days maybe a hole in the ground not pleasant place to be but he is not concerned with his own condition and circumstance. He does not ask from a selfish place
Paul's concern is the proclamation of the Gospel, the very reason he's in prison.
It's not wrong to ask for personal prayer, for healing for help in time of need. But in this passage Paul's focus is the advance of Gods Kingdom through proclamation of the Gospel.
He's not asking for an individual (S) to be saved. He knows that once the gospel is proclaimed people will hear and believe. But they can't if they have never heard the Gospel.
Its good to pray that for ourselves individually and as a church which we do at the prayer meetings each week
Application
Just in these few verses there are lots of challenge for us
How can you apply this to your life?
What are the hindrances to prayer - Time, being able to focus, more important things?
Do you have a concern for friends and family, colleagues, neighbours who don't know Jesus and have never heard the Gospel?
How often do you pray for them?
Do you confess your sin to another?
Do you pray for one another that you might be healed?
Are you aware of how powerful your prayers are when they come from the right heart motive?
Conclusion
The church in the west has become more about consumerism rather than participation.
We as elders cannot do this for you
We can model, it but there is personal responsibility on each of us
Our prayer life is ours to develop and nurture.
God loves it when we come to him he gave us prayer as a way to communicate with him and when we do anything is possible
What have you prayed for recently (doesn't matter how big or small a thing) and seen God Answer? Give thanks for that and be motivated to pray more.
