Ready:
"Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should.” – Colossians 4:2-4
Set:
Intentional, ongoing communication is essential for your team to reach its full potential. For most athletes, this doesn’t “just happen.” It takes practice. The more that team members make the effort to talk with one another and listen to one another, the better they become at it and the more fruit they’ll experience from it. Practice brings progress.
Communication is also essential to spiritual progress. More specifically, we need to communicate with God through prayer. Prayer is a conversation with the Lord that flows out of our dependence upon Him and leads to a deepening relationship with Him. While prayer is crucial, for most of us it doesn’t “just happen.” Prayer takes practice. That’s why the Bible is filled with encouragements to pray and teaching about prayer. Colossians 4:2-4 is one example.
Here are a couple aspects of the practice of prayer we see in this passage:
1. Pray with diligence, responsiveness and gratitude. To “devote yourselves to prayer” is to make conversation with God a daily part of your life. This takes diligence and intentional effort. To “stay alert” in prayer is about recognizing that God is communicating with you, so you desire to be ready to respond to Him. It’s the practice of listening to God as you pray, not just doing all the talking. Paul also says to pray “with thanksgiving.” When you consistently practice expressing gratitude to God, you are recognizing what God has already done—and this encourages you to trust and depend on Him even more.
2. Pray for others as well as yourself. Knowing that the tendency is to focus on ourselves, Paul reminds his readers to “pray also for us.” Communicating with God about your own needs is good. Also practice praying for the needs of others: family, friends, teammates, coaches, etc. As you do so, pray according to God’s purposes. Paul requests prayer for more opportunities to speak with people about Christ. Paul’s example is a reminder that as you pray, seek to do so according to what God has made clear in His Word regarding His purposes for our lives. As your prayers reflect what the Scriptures say about His heart for people and for His work in this world, the deeper your connection with God will be.
Go:
Why is it so important to pray for yourself and others with diligence, responsiveness and gratitude?
What is one next step you can take to grow in the practice of prayer?
Workout:
Overtime:
“Lord, thank You that You desire for me to communicate with You through prayer. Through Your grace and strength, I desire to be more devoted to prayer because I want to grow closer to You. I depend on You for all things. Amen.”