The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of October 13
Do you treat prayer like a wish list to God, or do you go to Him in surrender and celebration?
Asking God for things is not a sin, but if we are praying to Him solely hoping that He will grant all our wishes, we should reevaluate how we pray. When we go to the Lord with all the things we want, we are centering our prayer life around ourselves. This type of prayer reduces God down to a fairy godmother figure, and He is so much more than that.
How we pray matters. In Colossians 4:2, Jesus tells his disciples how they should be praying. There are three words or phrases instructing them on how they should structure their prayers. First, they should pray continually; second, they should be watchful; and third, their prayers should be thankful.
When Paul says to pray steadfastly, he is telling us this with the hope that prayer becomes a habit in our lives. We should be so dependent on God that we see prayer as an essential part of life. Paul also tells us to be watchful in prayer. God wants us to be spiritually alert. This is a reminder to not allow prayer to be a mindless habit in our lives, but rather to focus on God and His power, purposes, and promises.
Finally, Paul urges us to be thankful in prayer. When our prayer lives are abounding in requests for God, and lacking in gratitude, it can leave us spiritually unbalanced. In Philippians 4:6 it says, “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” We can ask God for things we want and need, but we should do it with a thankful spirit.
Let’s delight in the Lord and depend on His power rather than our own.