Have You Prayed Today? (Col 4:2)

Have you prayed yet today? (Col 4:2)

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)

The purpose of this Daily Exhortation is, in essence, to be a simple reminder by way of a question…

Have you prayed yet today?

It’s a great question to have in your heart, and hear in your mind, when you’re tempted to go through the motions of a given day and neglect the amazing grace of prayer.

I often hear people answer the question “how’s it going today?” with responses like, “you know, same old”, “same thing different day”, “nothing new”, and should the pattern of our life be similar from day to day, that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all. However, if that “same old” pattern of living involves going through the motions of life without persistent prayer… something new needs to happen.

By way of his writings, the Apostle Paul modeled consistent prayer for the recipients of his letters and the body of Christ throughout the centuries. One church, among the many that he interceded for, was the church at Colosse. As he opened the letter and greeted “the saints and faithful brethren at Colosse” (1:2) on behalf of himself and Timothy, he told them,

“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” (vs.3)

Note the word “always”.

We know Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was not lying or exaggerating. He was telling the truth. The exact truth.

He exhorted the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17) and he modeled that type of prayer life throughout his ministry. He told the Thessalonians, “we give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers”. (1 Thes 1:2)

Once again, note the word “always”.

To the saints at Rome he said that without ceasing he made mention of them in prayer (Rom 1:8).

Note the words “without ceasing”.

This was normal life for the Apostle Paul… and he expected it to be normal for the Christians he prayed for.

He told the Colossians, “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving”. (Col 4:2)

This is was the model that he followed.

Even in the short list of references provided in this daily exhortation that pattern is evident.

Notice how he begins that verse. He says, “continue earnestly”. The Greek word Paul uses there is the word proskartereó. It’s comprised of two parts: pros and karteréō. Pros means “towards”, and karteréō means to “show steadfast strength”. Thus, the idea of the word is to move in a fixed direction showing steadfast (persevering) strength despite difficulties.

This is how he expected the Christian to constantly attend prayer.

Understand that for you and I to continue steadfastly in prayer it will involve persevering past difficulties.

Sometimes it will be easy to pray. You know those times. You feel as though prayers are being continually brought to your mind, your attention is seemingly uninterrupted (or at least much less), and you feel as though you could stay in the Lord’s presence for hours. Then there are those times when you feel like everything that is not important in that moment comes to mind. Places you have to go… or don’t have to go. Things you have to do… or don’t have to do, yet you still find yourself thinking about it and an assortment of other distractions.

May you be exhorted to not be discouraged by that… persevere past that difficulty and continue earnestly in prayer.

Remember, the word proskarteréō means to move in a fixed direction showing steadfast (persevering) strength despite difficulties.