30-Day Personal Devotion Challenge Day 23

Good Morning Church Family – Day 23

Read Colossians 4:2

Devo Thought: At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, just before He goes to the cross, we find in a garden. In this garden, we see two examples of prayer, one good, one bad. Let’s start with the bad one. Jesus asks his disciples to stay awake with him to pray about what’s about to happen. While Jesus goes off to pray by himself, the disciples “pray” for a little while and then drift off to sleep. Meanwhile, Jesus prays with incredible urgency and intensity, to the point that he begins sweating drops of blood. Several times, Jesus goes over and rouses the disciples and tells them to keep on praying. What’s the difference between the two? One really knew the stakes of the situation, and the other didn’t know and didn’t have the same urgency. Jesus knew where He was headed and what He was about to have to endure, and the disciples still hadn’t understood the situation. So, He prayed with a deep sense of urgency, and they did not. He was steadfast, and they wavered. He was wide awake in prayer, and they were quick to drift off. This is the type of prayer that the Apostle Paul is describing in this verse today. The two descriptors of our prayer life are to continue steadfast and to be watchful. The Greek word for continuing steadfastly (pros-kar-ter-eh-o) means to devote oneself or to attend constantly. The Greek word for being watchful means to be awake. So, Paul is telling us that so much of prayer is keeping at it and staying awake to pray a little longer. Of course, all of this is done with thanksgiving. If you are discouraged about a situation, disappointed by your circumstances, keep at it in prayer. Stay awake. You never know when God will work. To see it, we must be attentive and awake.

Prayer – Let us ask God to help us to be attentive and awake in prayer.