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I want to welcome you to week four of our look through the book of Colossians,
chapter four, which is the last chapter in the book of Colossians. So we're
finishing our study in Colossians this week, and we're going to begin today.
Well, I'd like to start with a quick overview of the book of Colossians, where
we've been, and then we're going to begin today, look at this fourth chapter,
which talks about prayer and it talks about people, how God works through prayer
and how God works through people in our lives.

But first, just a quick look back at this brief four chapters that we've looked
at these last few weeks together, the outline of Colossians that we've talked
about is doctrine, danger, and duty. Doctrine, chapter one, Christ's preeminence
is declared, danger, chapter two, Christ's preeminence is defended. And in
chapters three and four, we really see our Christian duty, what it is to live
before Christ, his preeminence is demonstrated, the word preeminence just means
first.

So Colossians is all about, it's all about Jesus is first. What I love about
Colossians, and we talked about this for a moment last week, is that it's a
bullet point and a to the point outline in the Christian life. There's not a lot
of fluff or frill or even theological discussion, it's just here's the truth,
here's the truth, here's the truth, here's the truth, live it out.

Jesus is first. That's one of the points that Colossians makes very strongly in
chapter one. He is God, he is creator, he is savior, he is the head of the
church.

Jesus is first. Start there. You want to live the kind of life that God made you
to live, gave you to live, that's where you start, that's where you always go
back to.

Whenever you get worried, Jesus is first. Whenever you get filled with pride,
Jesus is first. Whenever you get your eyes on others, Jesus is first.

Whenever it seems like you might be overwhelmed by temptation, Jesus is first.
Whenever great new opportunities to live the Christian life come before you,
Jesus is first. That's where you start.

In chapter two, chapter two is all about watching out for anyone who says Jesus
is not first. Anyone who says it's Jesus plus. Jesus plus any good works that I
can do.

Jesus plus any special knowledge that I can gain. Jesus plus some special
dietary program that I would have. Paul goes through all of that in chapter two
and says, no, it's not Jesus plus, it's Jesus first.

And then in chapters three and four, it's live the Jesus first life. How do you
live the Jesus first life? You live it by the grace that you were saved with.

You live by grace just as you were saved by grace. You live this Jesus first
life as a new creation. I put off the old and I put on the new.

And then we ended last week looking at the fact that you live this Jesus first
life in your relationships. You live it in your relationships of those who are
closest to you. Jesus is first in every area of my life.

And this week as we begin to look at Colossians chapter four, it's really a to
the point ending. Paul talks about the importance of prayer, the importance of
your witness, the importance of fellowship. And in all of it, Jesus is first.

I just want to make note of something because in a minute I'm going to read
Colossians four verse two. We ended last week by looking at Colossians chapter
four verse one, which was about relationships in the family. And the question a
lot of people have is, why did Colossians chapter four one, why wasn't it back
in chapter three?

Why wasn't it better connected to what had been talked about? Remember, just a
quick reminder that when the Bible was written, it was not written with chapters
and verses. So whenever you ask, why did Paul break the thought between
chapters?

Why did Paul break the thought between verses? Well, he didn't because he didn't
write it that way. He just wrote it as one long letter.

The verses and chapters were added, if you're interested in this history, they
were added in 1551 by Robert Stevens. And the legend is that he added them on
horseback while he was on a trip from Paris to Lyons. And so he was distracted
many times in doing this.

And because of his distraction, he sometimes put some chapter division in some
interesting places. Now, the interesting thing to me about this is always that
since the verses, the numbers of the verses were not in the original, it always
makes me smile when somebody says, Oh, you have to quote a whole verse of the
Bible or you're not being faithful to God's word. There weren't any verses in
the first place.

So unless you quote a whole book every time, if you're going by that idea, then
you wouldn't be being faithful. Obviously, you can quote phrases, you can quote
words, you can quote verses from the Bible, always being aware of the entire
context of the Bible. So that's the reason we're starting in Colossians chapter
four, verse two today.

And four two says this, devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and
thankful. That's the one verse we're going to focus on today. Devote yourselves
to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Not just pray, but be devoted to prayer. Not just know the importance of prayer,
but be devoted to prayer. Now, if you're anything like me or many people that I
talk to, this devotion to prayer is a struggle in your Christian life.

There's a lot of actions that we take in our Christian life, a lot of study that
we do in our Christian life, and there are some prayers that we pray. But the
idea of being devoted to prayer in our hurried, busy world, in our active world
where we think actions are what it's all about, this devotion to prayer has to
be a daily choice in our lives. And how do you make that choice?

Well, you make it one prayer at a time. You make it one minute at a time. How do
I do this?

How do I do devotion to prayer? Well, Paul tells us, being watchful and
thankful. So do those two things in your prayer life in a daily way, and you're
devoted to prayer, be watchful and thankful.

Now, what do those mean? What does it mean to be watchful? Does that mean you
pray with your eyes open?

What does it mean to be watchful in prayer? It's a phrase you hear used
sometimes, but many people have a struggle understanding what in the world does
that mean? It means be aware.

Be aware of what God is doing in the world. Be aware of the needs of the people
that are around you. How do you keep an alert mind while you pray?

Being watchful. Let me talk about that on two levels. First of all, by being
aware of the needs around you.

You don't just pray the same things every day. You're aware of, as you read the
newspaper, the needs around you, and you pray about those things that you're
aware of. One of the ways to be watchful in prayer is to pray about the things
that you become aware of during the day.

Instead of waiting for prayer requests to come in, or somebody to make a list of
prayers, just as you become aware of it, then you pray about it. Oh, this
person's on this trip. Oh, this family's going through this.

In your mind, in that moment, you pray about it. That's being watchful in
prayer. That's bringing prayer into your daily life.

Now, for a lot of people, this idea of being watchful in prayer also goes to,
how do I keep concentrating when I pray? Many of us, myself included, when we
sit down and pray, being devoted to prayer, being watchful in prayer, we instead
find our minds wandering in prayer, and we're thinking about everything we're
going to do during the day, or the things that happened yesterday, or some
problem that's bothering me right now. How do you keep an alert mind while you
pray?

Well, you might remember these three words, speak, write, and walk. Speak,
write, and walk. One of the ways to keep an alert mind while you pray is to
speak your prayers out loud.

Now, I didn't say loud. I just said out loud. There's something about us that
thinks all of our prayers have to be by mental telepathy somehow, that I have to
just think my prayers to God.

Jesus told us many, many times in His example that we are to pray out loud,
because He prayed that way. So it's okay to pray out loud. In fact, when you do,
it often focuses your mind when you pray.

Also write. It helps a lot of people to write down their prayers. So something
about writing them down that not only helps you to concentrate, but it also
helps you to have those prayers later so you can look back and see what God
answered and then walk.

I know a lot of people, it helps them to walk during their prayer time. Just to
get out where there's not a lot of people around, someplace where they won't be
distracted, but where they can just walk. You got a lot of nervous energy, and
just sitting in a chair trying to pray in three or four minutes, it seems like
you just have to get up and do something.

Well, instead of going through that day after day, why not find a place where
you can walk, be by yourself, and talk to God during your prayer time. Be
watchful in prayer. That means be aware.

And how do I devote myself to prayer? Also be thankful. It is amazing how often
thankfulness comes up as a key to the Christian life.

When you're discouraged in your faith, the first question you should ask
yourself is, am I being thankful? I know there are things to look at in all of
our lives that are challenges, that are problems, that are trials and
difficulties, but there are also always things for which we can be thankful. And
the Bible tells us to always be thankful.

We're supposed to talk to God about our problems, no doubt about that. But for
some of us, our entire prayer life becomes talking to God about our problems and
other people's problems. And pretty soon, we feel negative about our prayer
life.

Why? Because all we're doing in our prayer life is talking about negative
things. We're supposed to also be thankful in our prayer lives.

Devotion to prayer is being watchful, aware of the needs, but also being
thankful, aware of the good things that God is doing, the answers to prayer that
God is bringing. Devotion to prayer, it's not just talking about prayer, it's
doing it. So I'd like to take a few minutes right now to do devotion, to pray
together.

And as we pray, I want to invite you to be watchful. There's some things that
you're aware of right now. Just talk to them about God, "God, here's what's
happening today.

Here's what I'm aware of. Here's what's happening in the world, in my family, in
my life, in my business, in my school. God, I bring it before you.

I ask you to be at work at this place. Be watchful. And then be thankful.

Start with one thing. "God, I am thankful for this today. " You can't think of
anything else.

Thank Him for His creation. He made you. He made everything around you.

Start there. And it's amazing how one thanks becomes an avalanche of
thankfulness in our lives. It just sort of opens the floodgates.

Start with one. Be thankful and be watchful. "Our Father, we thank You for Your
goodness to us.

We thank You for Your grace. We praise You for the things that You have made.
And we are grateful that every moment of every day You have Your eye on us.

You are watchful towards us. Lord, help us today to be aware of the needs around
us, to bring them before You and not try to just handle it on our own. And as we
do that, Lord, we are thankful that You will listen.

We are thankful that You're at work. In Your name, Amen. Join us tomorrow.

We're going to be talking together about the importance of the Good News.