Day of Praise

Sa, 01/25/14, "Day of Praise"

Colossians 4:2 - "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving."

So what does it mean that God, through Paul, commands us to be "watchful" in our continual prayer? Here's a teenage boy's take on it. Very simply, my son and I were grabbing a quick bite of dinner at Subway before my evening meetings. This man and his two teenage sons came and sat in the booth next to us, and the man asked his sons to pray with him. So the man bows his head and is praying over the food, while the boys bow their body, but their eyes are open, and they're looking around, watching to see if anyone sees them eating "thankfully" during the prayer. Their eyes get that "busted" look when they see that I'm watching and smiling, and then they close their eyes and stop eating, listening to the end of their father's prayer.

I hope you're chuckling because, hey, I do understand those boys because I've seen lots of people do what those boys did. I've even seen a pastor do it, bowing his body but eating with eyes open while someone else prayed!!!

However, I don't think that "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving" means "watch to see if someone's looking while you eat your food that you're thankful for while someone else is praying."

In sum, what God wants us to do is to be ever mindful that God is with us; this is being prayerful. And mindful that God is with us, we're called to watch for and give thanks for the many blessings that God is constantly sharing. It's an ongoing lifestyle and a constant posture of the heart that makes us grateful both for Subway sandwiches and also for the chance to close our eyes for a moment and tell God, "Thanks!" As always, God will help us to learn to "continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." (Colossians 4:2)

Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson