Exposition on Prayer: (Col.4:2-3a)
“The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer” F.B. Meyer
Instead of spending every day in prayer just like, breathing, eating walking and talking, it appears that prayer has become a little covered box glass on the wall in a building that says: “break in case of emergency.” It is true that so very often we associate prayer with crises in our life.
There was a story of a man who encountered a bit of trouble while flying his small 4-seater airplane. He called the control tower and said, “I’m 300 miles from the airport, six hundred feet above the ground, and I’m out of fuel. I am descending rapidly. Please advise me . Over.” The Traffic Controller said to pilot, “Repeat after me: “Our Father Who art in heaven…'”
Prayer is the most untapped resource, an unexplored continent where untold treasure remains, to be unearthed. It is talked about more than anything else , and practiced less than anything else. And yet, for the believer it remains one of the greatest gifts our Lord has given us outside of salvation.
Paul says to devote to prayer. Prayer and worship are perhaps the highest uses of the gift of speech. Paul was not ashamed to ask his friends to pray for him. Even though he was an Apostle, he needed prayer support for himself and his ministry.
Paul was someone who understood prayer and its power. Prayer was a part of Paul’s life, and he took it for granted that it would be a part of the life of every Christian. You cannot really be a good Christian and not pray, just like you cannot have a good marriage if you don’t talk to your wife. You can be a Christian and not pray, just like you can be married and not talk to your wife. But in both circumstances you will be miserable. Prayer is the pipeline of communication between God and His people, between God and those who love Him.
If a great Christian like Paul felt the need for prayer support, how much more do we need this kind of spiritual help! In these few words. Paul gave 4-pronged prayer for a true and spiritual prayer life.
- Persistent prayer: (4:2a):
Paul begins by saying, “Devote yourselves to prayer,” (NASB) or “Continue earnestly in prayer,” (NKJV). In the original language it says, “continue steadfastly in prayer.” The word translated, “continue steadfastly,” is one word in the original language. It can be translated, “persist in, adhere firmly to, or remain devoted to or to give unremitting care to.” It carries with it the idea of dedication. In NT there are 10 instance about prayer. Among them 4-times, we are asked to be devoted to prayer. It is a very powerful word. This verse (4:2a) is given as an imperative, or a command. In other words, persistence in prayer is not an option for the Christian, it is an order from the Lord Himself.
Two of the most instructive parables Jesus ever told on prayer, one in (Lk. 18) of Persistent widow and the other in (Lk. 11) of Jesus’s teaching on Prayer, both have to do with being persistent and not giving up in prayer.
- Luke 18:1 says, “Now He was telling them a parable to show them that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”
- Luke 11:9 is where we find the promise that says, “ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.” Each of those verbs are in the present tense, active voice and could be translated, “keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.” Jesus does not want us to give up in prayer, He instructs us to be persistent.
We must be steadfast and devoted in our prayerful life. This is how, the early church prayed (Acts 1:14; 2:46). Many of us pray only occasionally. Unless we have a crisis troubling us, we do not pray continuously. “Pray without ceasing” is God’s command to us (1 Thess.5:17). This does not mean that we should walk around muttering prayers under our breath. Rather, it means we should be constantly in fellowship with God so that prayer is as normal to us as breathing.
There is a difference between a persistent prayer and a long prayer. A person who is persistent in prayer does not necessarily have to pray for a long time. Persistence means not giving up.
Some people give up easy, they quit because they say they don’t feel like praying, the joy is gone, the feeling is gone. But we are not to live by our feelings but to live by the commandments of our Lord who tells us to pray without ceasing.
George Muller, known as one of the greatest prayer warriors of all times had this to say about persistence in prayer”
“It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.”
God enjoys answering our prayers. But He sometimes delays the answer to increase our faith and devotion to accomplish His purposes at the right time. God’s delays are not always God’s denials. As we continue in prayer, our own hearts will be prepared for the answer that God will give. We find ourselves growing in grace even before His answer comes.
- Watchful prayer: (4:2b): We must be awake and alert as we pray. Jesus “said just before his arrest: “Pray and watch that you may not fall into the temptation” (Mk.14:38). Nehemiah while rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem: warned the people to be watchful. A dull and listless prayer has no power. If there is no fire on the altar, the incense will not rise to God (Ps.141:2). Real praying demands spiritual energy and alertness, and this can come only from the Holy Spirit of God. Routine prayers are mostly unanswered prayers.