A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Pastor John Randall on the purpose of prayer.

John Randall: The purpose of prayer is not to get God to line up with my plans and my purposes, and my agenda, and my will. As if I'm informing him God, I just got a few things I'd like for you to carry out for me and if you could just get to that yesterday or sooner than that would be great. No, it's not God aligning you know me having God somehow bend to my will. It's me bending to God's will. The highest purpose of prayer is to see God's will accomplished.

Guest (Male): Welcome once again to a daily walk where you never have to walk alone. Pastor John Randall will be with us momentarily and will be continuing our study in Colossians today. Well, what would you say you're devoted to these days? Would it be entertainment or work, money, or maybe your family? But how many of us would actually say we're devoted to prayer? In chapter 4 verse 2 we read devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful. It's a rather brief statement, but it's packed with helpful instruction for our daily walk. Let's turn things over to John and see what that is.

John Randall: If you'd open up your Bible now to Colossians chapter 4 as we consider together the purpose and power of prayer. Colossians chapter 4 I want to draw your attention to verse 2. And here the apostle Paul writes and he says continue earnestly in prayer being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. And meanwhile praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in chains that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. This evening we come to the fourth and final chapter of the book of Colossians.

And we left off last time considering how a Christian is to live their life within this world that we are to have a heavenly mindset with an eternal perspective. And that we are to in whatever we're involved with, whatever we're engaged in you remember, whatever you do do it all as unto Christ and do it ultimately for the glory of God. Now whether that be in a home, between husband and wife, or whether that be in raising the children or working at your job remotely or overseeing others who do their job, whatever it is that you're involved with, whatever it is that you're engaged in, it's to be done for the glory of God.

And one of the ways in which we're able to accomplish that, one of the key elements and really personal spiritual habits that will enable us to do all things for the glory of God, it's found right here. It's in prayer. It's in prayer. You know as a church we have been spending the last 30 days, actually the last 22 days when we're through it'll be 30 days of prayer. And prayerfully you've been joining with us as we've been praying together for personal, congregational, national, and eventually global revival. We've been praying and interceding and coming before the throne of grace on a daily basis, looking up passages of scripture and writing them down and praying them in and really coming before heaven collectively with other churches in the state, in the country, and around the world, asking God to answer and to bring revival.

And I'm excited to see what will be the result of all of these prayers coming before the throne of grace. But we've been praying. And here as we continue in Colossians, Paul gives us some insight as to the importance of prayer, the purpose of prayer, and even the request that he was asking for. And when you look at it, he first of all talks about being earnest in prayer or continue in prayer. But I want to describe for you and really define if I may what prayer is. The most basic definition of prayer is talking to God.

It's communication of the human soul with the Lord who created the soul. Prayer is the primary way for the believer in Jesus Christ to communicate their emotions, to express their gratitude and present their petitions and desires to God and fellowship with God. Prayer can be audible, it can be silent, it can be private, it can be public, it can be formal, it could be informal. But all prayer is offered to God in faith in the name of the Lord Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. One definition of prayer is as follows. Prayer, Christian prayer in its full New Testament meaning is prayer addressed to God as Father in the name of Christ as the mediator and through the enabling grace of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

This is what prayer is. But prayer is also a privilege. It's a privilege to pray. The Lord has granted us and even invited us with a gracious invitation to come before his presence in time of need. From wherever we are he invites us to come. He encourages us to draw near to him. This is an unprecedented privilege that we have to be able to approach the throne of grace and obtain help in time of need, the Bible says. We are able to pray and talk to the Lord the same way you talk to your closest friend because that is exactly what the Lord desires to be.

Jesus said to his disciples I no longer call you servants, I call you friends. That's the heart of God. He desires for us to be his friend and to be able to communicate with him. It's a tremendous privilege that we have. But what is the purpose of prayer? We we know what prayer is by definition. We understand the privilege to some degree of having access to the throne of grace. But what is the purpose of prayer? The purpose of prayer is not to get God to line up with my plans and my purposes and my agenda and my will.

As if I 'm informing him God, I just got a few things I'd like for you to carry out for me and if you could just get to that yesterday or sooner than that would be great. No, it's not God aligning you know me having God somehow bend to my will. It's me bending to God's will. The highest purpose of prayer is to see God's will accomplished. Prayer is where I align my will with his, a time when I want to see the purposes of God come to pass. And I don't always know what that is.

That is why whenever I pray either in my mind or even verbally I will say God, if this is not your will don't bring it to pass. Lord, if this is not something you want me to do, shut the door. Lord, if this isn't something you want me to be involved with, then just don't let it happen. I want to be in the center of God's will. That's the purpose of prayer. It's a privilege but also it's important to remember and this is something I think sometimes we may forget. There is real power in prayer.

Prayer is such a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the believer because think about it. Prayer can go beyond prison doors. It can go into your neighbor's house that you've never been invited into. It goes into the cars of unbelievers that you've never met. It goes beyond continents across oceans. It goes into governmental buildings influencing those who are in power and authority. There is such power in prayer and sometimes we don't recognize it. And perhaps the reason that we don't recognize such power in prayer is because we don't immediately see something happening when we pray.

There's something happening but we don't see it. It's in the unseen. It's it's in a realm where God dwells and so we pray and we think that yeah I wonder if he heard it. He heard it. Did he answer it? You'll find out. But the fact is there is power in prayer. And it's unfortunate that sometimes we make prayer the last resort. Well, we tried everything. Maybe we should pray. Why don't we pray? Should we pray? Honey, why don't you lead us in prayer? You see no, listen we start with prayer. That's the place to begin.

And so here we find there is power in prayer. But I'll say this because there is such power in prayer you'll also discover that there are great obstacles and spiritual opposition to our times of prayer, distractions that may seek to derail our times of prayer. Therefore when it comes to cultivating, developing, and engaging in prayer and having a prayer life, just know this prayer is war. I mean there is warfare that goes on. Isn't it fascinating? Have you noticed this? Why is it that when you sit down to pray you can remember everything you could not remember for the last year?

Suddenly everything everything you need to do that you didn't do that you probably should do, you just think about it right then because listen the devil knows if he can distract you from praying then you'll stop praying. But folks listen the Bible encourages us to pray without ceasing. I do believe that it is important as Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount to find a secret place of prayer, to go into your room, shut the door, and when you prayed in secret your father sees in secret will reward you openly. That's important to have those moments where everything stops, solitude.

Be still and know that I am God. Just pray in those moments where everything else is shut out except you and the Lord and you are praying. But I also think that it's beneficial and a blessing to be able to pray throughout the day, to be able to talk to the Lord like you would to your friend, to pray throughout the day, just in whatever you're doing, be able to communicate, throw a prayer up here and and mention a prayer there and just it's like you're you're just carrying on this dialogue with God. By the way that is what God desires prayer to be as well, not just a monologue, right tell God everything that I need for that day, but also a dialogue where I pray where I listen where I wait.

And here we might say to me. So when it comes to our prayer life, there are some important principles that Paul highlights for the believers here in Colossians. And this is so appropriate for the time in which we're in right now because listen a lot of us we got time and we got time to pray. So how should we pray? What are some of the the characteristics of a prayer life for the Christian? Well, here they are. First of all, number one, if you're taking notes you may want to write this down perseverance in prayer.

Perseverance in prayer. Paul says in verse 2 of Colossians 4 continue in prayer. Another translation it says be devoted to prayer. But the word continue comes from two compound Greek words or it's compound of two Greek words. The first word implies motion, direction towards something. And then the second word suggest being steadfast or strong. So when you put these two words together when Paul is talking about continuing in prayer, it describes listen a steadfast, single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action. It means to persist obstinately in a task, to keep on with devotion, to continue to do something with an intense effort, steadfastly attentive to it with unremitting care.

That's what he's describing here. If I'm honest and if we're honest with ourselves, it doesn't always describe my prayer life. So how would you describe your prayer life? Intense? Well, you know no, not always. But Paul's saying listen this is this is so important for the believers, for Christians to be consistent. That is to persevere in prayer. And it's also worth noting that this is used in what is called the present imperative tense which means simply keep on doing it. Don't stop. Keep praying. It's calling for continual devotion to prayer. Do you remember in Luke's Gospel in the 18th chapter Jesus told a parable.

And it says in Luke 18 then he spoke a parable to them that men ought always to pray and not lose heart. Why do you suppose Jesus spoke a parable about men not losing heart when they pray? Because we do. In Ephesians chapter 6 in verse 18 as Paul was talking about the warfare of the believer and the armor of the believer that they must put on, one thing that sometimes goes unmentioned as it relates to the arsenal of the believer is prayer. Paul says in Ephesians 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and being watchful to this end.

Notice this with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. You get the idea? It's not losing heart. It's continuing to persevere in prayer. It's overcoming the obstacles. It's fighting through the attacks on your faith with the shield of faith and and you just you continue to pray. You don't stop. You know a great example of this is found in the Old Testament in the life of a man named Daniel. Oh, perhaps you're familiar with Daniel who spent time there in Babylon when he was carried away into captivity. But there as Daniel was in Babylon he had many challenges that he faced and you can read about them.

But one thing you find consistent in Daniel's life was prayer. I mean what are you going to do in Babylon? I mean you're surrounded by idolatry. I mean there is there are threats on every side. There are temptations everywhere you look. What do you do? You know what you do? You keep praying. And there came a point in Daniel's life when there were some men who were jealous and envious of Daniel's abilities. And so they tricked the king into writing this decree that no one could pray except to the king for a certain amount of time and anybody that violated that would be of course thrown into the lion's den.

Daniel knew about the decree. He was well aware of the fact that if he kept on persevering in prayer what the outcome would be, what the consequence would be. But this is what the Bible says. The scripture says that when Daniel knew about this document that was prohibiting prayer to God it had been signed. What did he do? He entered into his house, he opened up his windows towards Jerusalem and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been previously doing. Nothing changed. Whether there wasn't a decree or there was, it wasn't going to stop this man from continuing to persevere.

And if you look at the life of Daniel, he survived in the midst of that. He actually thrived in the midst of Babylon. And I believe it had something to do with his perseverance in prayer. In the New Testament in the book of Acts there are several practices that were consistent within the early church. One of which was perseverance in prayer. In the book of Acts chapter 2 in verse 42 it tells us what they were doing and involved with in the early church. It says they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, that's the word of God, in fellowship, that's what the people of God, in the breaking of bread that refers to communion and also fellowship, and continue steadfastly in prayers.

Prayer was a priority. When things were going on in the church and it was distracting the apostles from ministering with the word and in prayer, they had to select certain individuals to minister to the daily needs and distribution of the widows because they said listen it's too important to leave God's word and prayer. We've got to stay faithful and persevere in the midst of this because if we stop praying everything's going to unravel. You think there's problems now? If we stop praying things will get worse. We got to pray. I love what James says in James chapter 5.

He said that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And he gives us an Old Testament example of such a man. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it didn't rain on the land for 3 years and 6 months. And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its fruit. What do we learn from this? That we are to be persevering in prayer. You say oh, I prayed a long time. Did God say no? I don't think he did.

Did he say yes? No, he didn't say that. He said wait. Well, keep on praying. Don't stop praying. Well, they're not saved yet. Keep praying for them. Well, they haven't come to Christ yet. Well, don't stop. Don't give up. Well, the quarantine has an end. Please don't stop praying. Keep praying, folks. We need to be a people of prayer. Jesus said you remember when he went and he overturned all the tables in the church, drove everybody out. Do you remember what he said? He said this is supposed to be. My father's house is to be a place, a house of prayer.

But you've turned it into a den of thieves. He restored order to the church. He made prayer once again a priority. And perhaps that's something God's doing right now. He's bringing order back into the church collectively to remind us that we can have all the ingenuity, we can have all the programs, and we can have the lights and the band and all of these things. But if we don't have prayer, we don't have anything. Our connection has to be to God through prayer. We need to be a people of prayer. In addition to perseverance in prayer the apostle Paul added that it's important to have here's another word vigilance in prayer, being vigilant in it.

The word vigilant in this context, this word it means to stay awake. That may be a word for some of you right now sitting on your couch with your chips and guacamole. Stay awake, folks. Don't get the guacamole on your Bible. But listen stay awake, stay alert, be vigilant. And to remain alert, to be watchful, to be ready to meet danger in a time of emergency. That's what vigilance means here. It means to be quick to perceive and act and being on the lookout. The it's it's the idea of being alert and it stresses readiness or promptness in meeting danger or in seizing opportunity.

There's vigilance. There's an awareness of your surroundings. Hey listen, are you aware of your surroundings right now? Do you see what's going on in this world? Has it prompted you to be vigilant in prayer? Has it caused you to be more alert of the signs of the times? Are you more concerned and more aware of the fact that Jesus is coming? Do you see what's going on in this world? Has it prompted you to a lifestyle of vigilance? I know for me it has. It's lit a fire within me. You remember Jesus said to his disciples when they were in the Garden of Gethsemane as they were growing weary and tired.

It says that they were falling asleep. Three times Jesus came up on his disciples and they were asleep. And at one point Jesus exhorted them and he said watch and pray lest you enter into temptation because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. There is a need for the body of Christ right now to be vigilant, not to go to sleep. And I think through what we're experiencing right now there has been or at least there should be an awakened awareness, a vigilance, an alertness in prayer. It's worth noting that Peter who fell asleep in the garden, you remember on the night Jesus was betrayed years later in his first epistle he uses this very same word that Paul uses in 1 Peter chapter 5 in verse 8 when he says this be sober be vigilant because your adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

Peter knew what it was to fall asleep and to have the enemy come in and attack. And so he says to the church that was struggling, that was suffering in his epistle that he wrote, he said listen it's really important that right now here's a word be sober. Be sober-minded. And also be vigilant. Why? Why should I be sober? Why should I be vigilant? Because the adversary, the devil he's looking for opportunity. There's danger lurking in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to pounce. And so Peter says hey listen remain vigilant in this season that we're in.

Prayer is a blessing but it's also a battle. And therefore there's a need to persevere. It's important to be vigilant, to stay alert, to stay awake. Then he adds to the perseverance and the vigilance and also be thankful. To be thankful. It says in verse 4 and also with thanksgiving or verse 2 rather and also with thanksgiving. Thankfulness it means gratitude, gratefulness. It's gratitude as an act of worship. It's thanking God for all that he's done for me in me and what he's promised to me yet in the future. It's just having a heart of thanksgiving.

This is the will of God that we rejoice and we're thankful. It's interesting that in Romans chapter 1 and verse 21 the apostle Paul was writing about non-believers and he mentioned that although they knew God they didn't glorify God nor were they thankful. They were unthankful. They didn't recognize it was God that provided. They didn't recognize that it was God who sustained, that God held their breath in his hand. They weren't thankful. They didn't even acknowledge him. They denied his existence. And the Bible does encourage us. The psalmist declared enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise and and be thankful unto him.

Are you thankful tonight? You know many times if you come across a grumpy person yes, I said grumpy you will discover that often times that same person isn't very thankful. Times when you you get really self-focused and you get grumpy you know what a good way to overcome that is? Start thanking God, reminding yourself of everything that he's done for you, provided for you, how faithful he's been to you, that you can walk, that you can breathe, that you can see, that you're saved, that you're going to heaven. Hey there are things to be thankful for.

And and when you come into those times of prayer, start with thanksgiving. Thank you, God for what you've done. Thank you, God for what you've provided. Thank you, God for what you're doing. Thankful. Let the the thanksgiving be on your lips, let it be on your heart. Choose to thank him. Choose to praise him.

Guest (Male): We certainly have a lot to be thankful for as believers in Christ. So let's be sure to express our gratitude to God on a regular basis. We've been learning about the purpose and power of prayer today on a daily walk through a study in Colossians from Pastor John Randall. Hear a daily walk online at adailywalk.org or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey have you seen Pastor John's adailywalk devotions? We post the daily devos at adailywalk.org. So grab your Bible, watch these encouraging daily devotionals. They're short enough to watch as you're getting ready in the morning or on your lunch break.

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