Devote Yourselves to Prayer

It’s always interesting to see what God is going to challenge us on next.  This past week and a half has been a rough one spiritually.  I don’t mean that God has been any less good (because He hasn’t) or that He is any less present in my life (because He’s not), rather I mean that I’ve been the one making it rough.  And I just want to thank the Lord publically for not letting me get away with it or giving up on me!  He is so good and gracious to us stubborn sinners :)

The background

You see I came into today tired because for the past two nights I have selfishly stayed up late to read a sci-fi book.  That may not seem like a big deal but it is just another fruit of living selfishly.  I have seen the battle manifest in my attitude towards studying, work around the house, and how my time is spent in all other areas of life.  Typically battles with sin aren’t confined to one area of my life, and I’m guessing it’s the same for you too. 

If selfishness is showing up in one area, guess what, it’s actually already everywhere else, I just haven’t noticed it yet.  But, I digress and am getting too preachy.  My intent is to share what God has been teaching me.  (Hopefully now you have a better idea of what was going on in my heart the past week though)

הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־גּוֹיִ֑ם (Praise the Lord all the nations!)

I have been reading through Paul’s letters lately and today happened to put me into Col. 4.  How convenient that Paul spends a good portion of this chapter talking about prayer (in one way or another).  Col. 4:2 is where I got the title for this post, and I think it reflects the attitude I ought to have towards prayer.

What does it even look like to be devoted to something?  For me, I think of marriage, and the idea that I know I will always be there for my wife no matter what is going on in either of our lives.  It means that I will never give up on her or let her go, no matter how difficult it becomes to hold on to and no matter what tries to come in the way.  The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines it as “characterized by loyalty or devotion”.  Well that is surprisingly unhelpful, so let’s look up loyal (the definitions for loyalty and devotion were equally unhelpful!). 

Loyal – unswerving in allegiance; faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product

That is more helpful to me, so now I can think of the verse like this:  “Be faithful to prayer, unswerving in allegiance to it..”  I am challenged to not allow other things to take the place of prayer, no matter how important they seem.  Prayer is something that I should be wrestling with, like Epaphras is in Col. 4:12.  That guy “got it”.  He realized that things that are important (like prayer) are worth putting effort into and that they don’t always come easily. 

I can imagine myself doing this on a smaller scale each day as I fight within myself to make time for prayer, to consciously engage God during it and not just list off my requests, and to be acknowledging/praising Him when He provides answers to those prayers!  It makes the cliche quote “Some things are worth fighting for” actually meaningful in the Christian life.  If I believe that prayer is opening up a line of dialogue with the living God, then why wouldn’t I be actively fighting for that?  Why wouldn’t I be unswerving in my allegiance towards it/Him and faithful to do it ‘without ceasing’?  As I think about my attitude towards prayer and how it will allow me to interact and focus on the Living God, I would challenge you to do the same!  :)