“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ…that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.” – Colossians 4:2-4

What great blessing you have as a child of God – through repentance towards God and faith in CHRIST JESUS – YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE PRIVILEGE TO PRAY…and the Lord God produces Confidence in HIS Children the more we learn of Him through His WORD by His Spirit to …pray in faith …We know as we ask according to His will that which Glorifies Him most He will do-John 14:13-14; John 16:23-24; John 15:7-8; Matt 6:9-10.

He has the UNLIMITED ABILITY TO PERFORM HIS PROMISES – HE IS Present tense – ABLE…

Let us consider some characteristics of the people who PRAY BELIEVING

THE PEOPLE WHO PRAY;
A.  Are DESPERATE people. Their Desperation is in their Realization only God can do the work of God. Perhaps it is better to say, “DEPENDENT People,”People who understand that apart from Him they “can do nothing”- John 15:4. People who realize if anything is going to be done that will GLORIFY God and last for eternity, then God must intervene and do what only He can do… a WORK OF GOD…John 15:7-7

  • Blind Bartimaeus – Mark 10:46-52
  • The Paralytics friends —  Mark 2:3-12
  • The Women with the blood issue – Luke 8:43-48
  • A pleading Father and a sick child – Luke 8:40-42 and 49-56

All these people had one thing in common – They were desperate to get to Jesus

B.  Are DEVOTED people. Their Devotion is Christ Himself. They live to “Proclaim Him”- Col 1:28, “Worship Him only”- Matt 4:10 and “Glorify Him”- 1 Cor 10:31

C.  Are DILIGENT people. Col 4:2 says “Devote yourself to prayer, keep ALERT in it with Thanksgiving.” They choose to pray, are Thankful to Him they can Pray, thankful to Him for the Privileges they have in Prayer, thankful For the Power of the One who can answer Prayer, Thankful that the hat they can Glorify Him in Praying…. Epaphras in Col 4:12 was always “laboring in his prayers.” Prayer is not easy at times as we have to fight our own apathy, feelings, the evil one, …

D. Are REWARDED people. “And your Father who sees in secret [When you go and pray to Him] will reward you.”- Matt 6:6

What blessings and Privileges we have to Pray. God has Given us the PRIVILEGE, POWER, PROMISES and PURPOSE to PRAY, and the circumstances that arise in our lives which we often see as intrusions are but opportunities to PRAY to Him, to Commune with Him on behalf of others and for ourselves… Have you ever stopped and thanked Him for the PRIVILEGE you have to speak to Him, be accepted by Him, Have an Advocate with Him, Have Permanent Access to Him? Dear friend you are a Privileged child of the King!

May the Lord encourage you to Pray. The one thing the disciples asked of the Lord having observed His life was to “TEACH US TO PRAY.” They knew it was key to His life. Is it key in yours?

PRAY FOR WHO?
I don’t know who to pray for some might say. Well try these for example
A.  Those in Authority – 1 Tim 2:1
B.  For all people – 1 Tim 2:2
C.  For the brethren – Eph 6: 18
D.  For your enemies – Matt 5:44
E.  For the Word of God to go forward – Col 4:3
F:  For the sick – James 5:15
G.  For missionaries to be sent – Matthew 9:36-38 / Col 4:2
H.  For opportunities to share Jesus – Col 4:3-4

PRAY WHEN?
A.  PRAY ALWAYS.- 1 Thess 5:17 Be in an attitude of prayer. Ready to pray when someone or a situation comes to your mind. Turn your thoughts into Prayers.
B.  PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING-  Phil 4:6. There is nothing too small, insignificant, too big that your Father does not want to hear about because He cares about you!! – 1 Pet 5:7

PRAY WHERE? 
You do not need a certain place or posture to pray. Scriptures shows people prayed kneeling, standing, in the morning, noonday, night time, in the middle of the night, indoors, outdoors, on a mountain, in the belly of a fish, while drowning, before eating, ON A CROSS, When being STONED as Stephen did…You can pray in the tub, you can pray as you shop, you can pray by your bed, you can even pray in school. God isn’t shut out of there as He is Omnipresent! You cant keep Him out!!

What a blessing is ours in Christ. The Lord Jesus shares with us in Matthew 6:6 “When you DO PRAY, go into your room {a place of aloneness with God, a place where you can be undisturbed} close the door and PRAY TO YOUR FATHER, who is unseen. THEN YOUR FATHER who SEES WHAT IS DONE IN SECRET, WILL REWARD YOU.”

Something to consider:
Its amazing here in the States-People, Christian people are up in arms about Prayer in school where it is illegal and will demonstrate, contact senators etc… yet where it is LEGAL- in Church Prayer meetings are scantily attended. Go figure. Perhaps we are more concerned with “rights” than we are with RESPONSIBILITY to pray.

CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER
We can have the assurance as we Pray according to Gods will – He hears and will answer- 1 John 5:14-15 “This is the ASSURANCE WE HAVE in APPROACHING GOD; That if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL He hears us. And if we KNOW that He hears us-whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of Him.”

We know as we ask according to His will that which Glorifies Him most He will do-John 14:13-14; John 16:23-24; John 15:7-8; Matt 6:9-10

And the One we ask of – “THE ONE TRUE AND LIVING GOD AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM HE HAS SENT…”- John 17:3 -has the UNLIMITED ABILITY TO PERFORM HIS PROMISES- HE IS Present tense- ABLE…

PRACTICE PRAYING
It’s not more books, seminars we need on Prayer, we need to choose to Pray … and the best way is to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. A good study would be to study Paul’s Prayers and the Priority he places in his prayers for people- found in Phil 1, Eph 1 ; Eph 3, Col 1:9-10. Notice he emphasizes the SPIRITUAL condition of people….

DEVOTE YOURSELF TO PRAYER
Colossians 4:2-4 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ…that I may make it  clear in the way I ought to speak.

 Be Encouraged, keep praying, God is listening, God is Honored.  Your labor before His throne is not in vain.