(The following is the September 13 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Colossians 4 and pay close attention to verses 2-6.)
Prayer can too often be an afterthought. Rather than being a vital part of daily life, we can crowd it out with busy schedules and competing priorities. Instead of being the first thing we think to do in good times and bad, we may treat it as an act of last resort. This practice of haphazard prayer is not what our heavenly Father wants from us.
Paul told the Thessalonians to “pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:17-18). Similarly, he told the Colossians, “Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving” (v. 2). Prayer is a tremendous privilege as we live in a close relationship with Christ. We are eager to stay in communication with those we love and who love us, and no one loves us more than Christ.
Spurgeon wrote: “Why should the church continue in prayer? For several reasons, and the first is, God will answer her. It is not possible that God should refuse to hear prayer; it is possible for him to bid the sun stand still and the moon to stay her monthly march. It is possible for him to bid the waves freeze in the sea – possible for him to quench the light of the stars in eternal darkness. But it is not possible for him to refuse to hear prayer that is based on his promise and offered in faith. He can reverse nature, but he cannot reverse his own nature, and he must do this before he can forbear to hear and answer prayer.” *
Our prayer lives will be a mixture of brief moments of thanks or expressed need and more extended periods of intense focus as we bow before our Maker. What a privilege it is to communicate with our Father, who hears us anytime, anywhere, about anything.
Next Step:
Devote more time today to prayer than you usually do. Give special attention to prayers of thanks for God’s undeserved blessings.
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* CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, ed. Alistair Begg (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1609-1610.
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