“Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful…”
In the text written above, the apostle Paul was telling the church at Colossae to be a praying church. We would do well to heed this advice in our own churches. There is a desperate need today for praying churches. Years ago, W.W. Dyer wrote: “The quickest way to get a church on its feet is to get it on its knees.” How true! Colossians 4:2 reveals to us what makes a church a “praying church.” I found a study of the Greek words used in this text to be helpful in interpreting it. (My source for the study of Greek words was the Analytical Greek Lexicon.) Paul advised them to “Devote yourselves to prayer.” The King James Version’s translation of this is, “continue in prayer.” The root Greek word can be translated as “to persist in adherence to a thing.” The Colossians, and we, are admonished to adhere to prayer. We are not to let anything keep us from praying. No one can really stop churches from praying but churches themselves. The same is true of individual Christians. If you want your church to be a praying church, promote prayer in every aspect of its life. Encourage individual church members to have daily devotions. Encourage families to pray together, and encourage prayer when the church is gathered together. Set aside times in worship services for prayer, and pray for missions, the ministry of the church in the community, a deep impression of the moving of the Holy Spirit and pray for the infirm. Most church prayer lists only list those who are on the “sick list.” I do not mean to diminish the importance of that, but we should pray for much more. Take Paul’s advice and “Devote yourselves to prayer” as individuals and the corporate body of your church. Paul advised them to be “watchful” in their praying. The lexicon gave two translations of the Greek word for “watchful.” The first is “to be awake.” Steadfast prayer will keep a church alive, awake and alert. Alert to what? Alert to many things, but one good example is to try being alert to ego matches in churches that make its witness null and void in the community. The second is to be “vigilant.” Constant prayer will keep a church “on its toes.” It will keep a church from letting its guard down on moral matters, in visitation and witness or in a dull sameness that kills the spirit of the worship of the church. The implication of Colossians 4:2 is that if a church is steadfast in prayer, it will be a watchful church. As physical exercise keeps our physical bodies alert, so prayer keeps churches alert. Paul advised them to be thankful. A little bit of thankfulness goes a long way in keeping our prayer lives alive and aware. A translation of the Greek word for thankful is to be “mindful of benefits.” A praying church will not forget that Jesus is the source of all of its benefits and blessings, such as, salvation, fellowship, or corporate witness. A church cannot be defined as a praying church if at the same time it forgets the source of all of its benefits – namely Jesus. Churches cannot be defined as praying churches if they focus only on themselves instead of on witness and ministry to the community. The church that is focused on Jesus, and people, is a thankful church. A thankful church is a praying church. What makes a church a “praying church”? The obvious answer is that the members of a praying church are praying people. They pray when away from the corporate body of the church, and when they are gathered together. Prayer is not an afterthought in a praying church, but is an integral part of the life of the church. If you want your church to be a praying church, be a praying person. Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Margaret M Jones
11/28/2015 08:07:13 pm
I certainly believe in the power of prayer
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