Pray And Don’t Lose Heart


 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV


 I notice three directives in this verse

We are to continue steadfastly in prayer 

We are to be watchful in it

And we are to be thankful 


Continue steadfastly in prayer…not always easy when you don’t see any change. When you feel like your prayers fall on deaf ears. When you’re not sure God even hears; sees or cares.

But in Luke 18:1, Jesus says we should always pray and not lose heart. Someone said to me one time that God doesn’t answer prayers, I let the comment slide, but later thought how sad to feel that way. Although sometimes I do wonder. But just because He doesn’t answer a prayer the way we think He should does that mean it’s not an answer? Just because a circumstance seems to stay the same does it mean He isn’t working? And maybe the answer is found in a change in us instead of the circumstance or person we may be praying for? 

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God knows so much more than we do. He sees things we don’t. He has all the parts of the puzzle where we only have a single piece. 

So perhaps continuing steadfastly in prayer is an act of faith, because we need to trust the outcome to the One who knows so much more than we.


Maybe that’s where the next directive comes in. “Being watchful in it”? Are we paying attention to how God may be answering our prayers? Because, as I mentioned earlier, His answer may be different than what we want. Perhaps the answer is in a change in attitude we notice in ourselves? How we respond or act? Maybe it’s in a way that seems so simple we don’t think of it as an answer? 


 Maybe that’s why we need the third directive, ‭‭ “With Thanksgiving”.  Sometimes it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the trials and challenges we face. But it’s important to remember that God’s desire is for us to be thankful, even in difficult circumstances. By being thankful, we’re showing our obedience to His word. It’s not always easy, and many of us would prefer to have God remove our trials. However, Jesus in John 16:33, promised that we would face trials, but that we could find peace in Him, just as He overcame, so can we. He also promised to be with us through our trials, as stated in Isaiah 43:2.

We can learn to be thankful for our trials because  they allow us to see God’s faithfulness and find our strength in Him.

Jesus encourages us in Matthew 6:33, to seek Him first and trust that everything else will be taken care of. 


So let us “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” ‬‬And not lose heart:)

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