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Colossians 10 – Devoted to prayer
Paul, from his jail cell commanded the Church in Colossae to devote to prayer. Devotion is a pretty strong word. We use devotion to describe the unwavering bond of marriage.
Does “devotion” describe your attitude toward prayer?
Hello everyone! This is Redemption Church. We are a mighty church in Plano Tx.
What kind of Church is Redemption Church? We are the kind of Church that believes in Spiritual Transformation! God has the power to change your life! Every time we come together we challenge everyone to let the Holy Spirit transform them. Before today is over we invite you to take a step down into this altar and ask the Lord Jesus to change your life.
Hello all you amazing people in the room. And greetings to everyone watching online. Please leave us a like, a share, and a comment so that God’s message will reach even further.
Please turn with me to Colossians 4. I have loved this study. It is so beneficial to dive deep into the word of God.
As we draw to a close with this series we are already becoming excited about our upcoming October series! It is going to be a Spooky Sermon Series! Be on the lookout for that!
CHRIST IS SUPREME
I want you to remember that the theme of the book of Colossians is CHRIST IS SUPREME.
Let’s look at Colossians 4:2.
Colossians 4:2 (NIV2011) Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Clap your hands if you are thankful for the Word of God.
As I was studying this final chapter of Colossians, this short little verse captured my attention.
It says “devote yourselves to prayer…”
Devote yourselves to prayer
What does that look like? Are we doing that? Are we devoted to prayer?
What do you think of when you hear the word devotion? It makes think of marriage… love, loyalty, and commitment.
In the same way that a husband and wife are devoted to each other, are you devoted to prayer?
The word Paul uses for DEVOTION is proskartereō (pros-kär-te-re’-ō). It means to be…
- devoted or constant to one. Are we constant towards prayer?
- to give unremitting care towards. Do we give unremitting care towards prayer?
- to show constant readiness towards. Are we constantly ready to pray?
- to show one’s self courageous for. Are we courageous in prayer?
In Paul’s closing chapter to the Church in Colossae, he instructs them to devote to prayer.
This is not the only time Scripture talks about devotion to prayer.
In Acts 1 Jesus told them to wait and pray in Jerusalem to receive the promised Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:14 (NIV2011) They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
The devoted themselves to prayer BEFORE the arrival of the Spirit… And they continued to devote after the Spirit infilling.
Acts 2:42 (NIV2011) They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
In Acts 6 the Apostles revealed how they did ministry.
Acts 6:4 (NIV2011) and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
Paul’s letter to Rome also addressed devoted prayer.
Romans 12:12 (NIV2011) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Redemption Church, we need to be devoted to prayer. A constant readiness… a courageous unremitting care towards prayer.
We MUST pray often/continually
We need to pray every day. We need to have a constantly flow of prayer in our life.
- It should not be strange for you to talk to God during the day!
- It should not be rare for you to pray with and for others, during your day!
- You should have prayer built into your life! Set times set aside to talk to the Lord.
- You should be living a life of relationship with Jesus… Prayer, talking with Him, then flows out of that relationship!
CHALLENGE: I CHALLENGE US TO SET A CONSISTENT TIME IN OUR SCHEDULE TO PRAY
WE MUST PRAY DEEPLY
We should grow in depth when it comes to prayer. As kids we sometimes learn little rhyme prayers to help…
“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…”
“God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for this food…”
“Thank you God for Food and prayer. Teach us how to love and share.”
“ABCDEFG Thank you, God, for feeding me.”
“Good food, good meat, good Lord, let’s eat. Amen.”
If a 6 year old prays one of these, no one thinks twice… but it would be strange if a 26 year old prayed this way. We would expect more depth in their prayer.
Your prayer life should grow in depth. You should be better at prayer than you were at the beginning of the year.
Your devotion to prayer ought to bring you into greater depth. IS IT?
Here are some shallow things we do in prayer…
We make prayer only about us, our ego, and our selfish desires.
- We don’t repent.
- We don’t pray for others.
- We only talk, we don’t listen.
- We don’t pray in the Spirit.
- We worry about what others may think about what we say and how we look while praying.
There are deep places to dive in prayer. The Spirit can operate through you in prayer. You can move mountains in prayer. Your prayer can change you.
CHALLENGE: I CHALLENGE YOU TO LET GOD DRAW YOU DEEPER IN PRAYER
- We must pray often/continually.
- We must pray deeply.
WE MUST PRAY EFFECTIVELY AND FERVENTLY
James 5:16 (NKJV) …The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
If James tells us about effective prayer, that means there is in-effective prayer. James 4:3 talks about praying incorrectly… praying amiss… that even though they prayed, they will not get what they asked for because they were not praying correctly.
We don’t just want prayer. We want effective prayer! We want prayer that results in the growth of God’s Kingdom.
James tells us to have fervent prayer! Do you know what fervent means? It means to display a passionate intensity. Does that describe your prayer life?
I want you to realize that prayer is a spiritual war strike against the enemy.
- Prayer causes cancer cells to shrink!
- Prayer causes demons to flee!
- Prayer causes your enemies to become converted and sit in the chair next to you in Church.
- Prayer causes things that should never work in your to be your greatest victory.
It is time that we got FERVENT in prayer!
None of this happens without devotion to prayer.
We must pray often/continually.
We must pray deeply.
We must pray effectively & fervently.
We need to be a Church devoted to prayer!
Colossians 4:2 (NIV2011) Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Then Paul, from His jail cell tells us to be WATCHFUL & THANKFUL.
WATCH
Paul takes a word that Jesus used many times in His ministry.
The word means to be vigilant, active, & cautious. It comes from a root word that means WAKE UP!
Jesus uses this word as a command 14 times in the gospels. Verses like…
Matthew 24:42 (NIV2011) “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
Jesus, when He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray… the very location where Jesus will be betrayed and taken from His disciples… Jesus pleads with His friends to watch…
Matthew 26:38 (NIV2011) Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Matthew 26:39 (NIV2011) Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:40 (NIV2011) Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.
Matthew 26:41 (NIV2011) “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
It is by no mistake that Paul used this word when giving final instruction to the Church in Colossae. It was such an emotional word choice.
Colossae WAKE UP! You don’t know what is about to happen. Be alert, watch, & pray.
That maybe God’s message to us today! WAKE UP Redemption Church.
- People are giving up hope & faith! WAKE UP & PRAY.
- There are Churches on every street corner yet we are losing generations to a Devil’s hell. WAKE UP & PRAY.
- Christian brothers and sisters are living under growing persecution for sharing their faith. WAKE UP & PRAY.
- You have family & friends who have never come to faith in Jesus. WAKE UP & PRAY.
- We live in the world’s richest and most blessed country and from our blessing, we could build water wells, fund medical clinics, clothe and feed children, build orphanages, homes, & churches. WAKE UP & PRAY!
Jesus pleaded with His disciples 3 times… Watch with me…
Redemption, will you watch? Will you watch & pray?
Will you come willingly to this altar today to pray? Is there anyone with a hunger to come pray today?
Is there anyone that wants to repent of their apathy towards prayer. Will anyone rush to this altar today with urgency? Are there any believers who want to devote to prayer?
Colossians 4:2 (NIV2011) Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
I need to tell you Redemption that Paul added one last command. He told us to be thankful.
THANKFUL
Paul wrote this from a jail cell. Be thankful.
With all the heaviness of everything you are dealing with.. don’t forget.. be thankful.
We just prayed for some desperate things… People we love are sick, people we love don’t know Jesus, the heavy burden of responsibility to do something and be more for God’s kingdom… but even in that state of intercessory prayer, we need to remember that we have so much to be thankful for.
Are you thankful for a God that hears your prayer?
Are you thankful that you are not alone? God is with you! You have brothers and sisters who stand with you.
As we get ready to dismiss from this time together… let’s be thankful.