Hopelessly Devoted....
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Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
Do you remember the candy, Pop Rocks from our childhood?
They were small little rock things that would explode and "Pop" when you put them in your mouth. I used to LOVE them. I may or may not still eat them from time to time. Shhh ,don't tell my dentist. [although, pretty sure he can already tell]
Reading scripture is like that.
When we ingest it, suddenly, God uses it to POP and explode into our hearts.
This morning I came across this scripture in Colossians...."Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."
I kept repeating it over and over.
Prayer Requests Page: Here.
SHINE Reading Plan: Here.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
Do you remember the candy, Pop Rocks from our childhood?
They were small little rock things that would explode and "Pop" when you put them in your mouth. I used to LOVE them. I may or may not still eat them from time to time. Shhh ,don't tell my dentist. [although, pretty sure he can already tell]
Reading scripture is like that.
When we ingest it, suddenly, God uses it to POP and explode into our hearts.
This morning I came across this scripture in Colossians...."Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."
I kept repeating it over and over.
Throughout our day, we can devote ourselves to many things. Our phones. Our emails. Our jobs. Our children. Our husbands. Our houses. Our relationships.
These are all good things.
However, the thing that holds them all together is God.
"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17
When we take these things that we love, and devote them to prayer, the explosion happens. We become more watchful. We cannot wait to see what God will do with those prayers.
Our eyes suddenly become more watchful to His works around us and in others.
We begin to have His eyes to see.
Along with being watchful, Paul tells us here in this verse to be thankful.
Boy, doesn't that just tie it all together?
Pray. Watch. Give thanks.
We can also devote our thoughts to fear. Worry. Anger. Bitterness. Unforgiveness.
Without realizing it, we give our devotion to things that we never meant to elevate. We must be so careful with our thoughts, because they determine what we say, and what we do.
For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Luke 6:45
I want to be devoted to God in prayer, I really do. But, it won't just happen. I have to discipline myself to pray. I have to put down other things I am devoted to, like my phone, and pray.
In the car I have to turn off the radio because it can distract me from prayer. I have to make sure I get up earlier than the rest of the house because I need that time to pray before my day starts.
When I am cooking dinner, and the house is chaos central, I can still be devoted to prayer. Browning meat, stirring soup, I can pray.
Being devoted to prayer doesn't mean we have to halt life and carve out 4.5 hours to pray. We can pray in the mundane things of our day. Folding laundry, ironing [for you ironer-s out there], changing sheets.
Prayer open our eyes to the needs of others. It forces us to escape the pull of the "me, me, me" in our flesh. It will take our eyes and point them outward and upward instead of inward.
Prayer will also push away the worries, the fears, the anxieties of life.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
Pray. Watch. Give thanks,
jill
