Colossians 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.
I have a bad habit of asking, “What?” when I actually heard what someone else stated. It is just an instinctive reflex when I am in a conversation. I am being lazy and I’m prepared to say, “What?” when I actually know what was said. Sometimes, if the person delays in repeating themselves, I will go ahead and answer the question because I realize, “Oh, I actually heard that.”
When I was a kid, my mom used to say, “Ok, Wil, tell me what I just said.” That was an embarrassing moment because I was caught. Either I had to risk the displeasure of my mom or I had to acknowledge that I actually heard what I was asking her to repeat. Sometimes we do that with God. Sometimes we are so busy asking that we don’t hear an answer. We need to both speak and listen in order to have a conversation.
Colossians 4:2 puts it this way, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” So, I am to keep on praying. Don’t stop! And, I am “to watch in the same,” to be vigilant, to be on the lookout. Now, I need not be lazy or sleeping when I ought to be praying. I need to watch and pray so I will not enter into temptation, but, specifically, I am to watch with thanksgiving. In other words, observe your answers at least as readily as you observe your needs.
Paul was in prison, and even there he had reason to be grateful. When I am looking for an answer, I should be as ready to see an answer as I am to see a need. Gratitude is the result, and blessing and confidence come.
Is it easier for you to be aware of a need or to be aware of an answer? For me, if I am hungry, I know it. If I am cold, I know it. If I am scared, I know it. If I am worried, I know it. If I am poor, I know that. So, I don’t need a list to remind me of the things that I am in earnest about. I pray about those things.
But, so many times I am not as aware of an answer. I don’t have a gratitude list, and I can forget those things very readily. There have been times where I have been praying earnestly for something I needed, and it was almost as if God reminded me, “Rice, you didn’t even thank me for what I did last month!”
So, what happens when I observe answers as readily as I observe needs? Well, what happens is a progression from recognition to hope to motivation. When I talk about recognition, I am not suggesting that you see something that is not there. I am suggesting that you pay attention to the answers God has given. Be alert for them. Watch in prayer with thanksgiving.
Recognition leads to hope. “My prayer was answered yesterday, so I hope that God will provide tomorrow.” I can live three days without water perhaps, but I can’t live one moment without hope. Being grateful helps me to be motivated in prayer.
Hope leads to motivation. In other words, I recognize that there is a living God, and thanksgiving fuels prayer just as prayer fuels thanksgiving.
In Psalm 116 a man who was to die but whose life God spared said, “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?” The answer was, “I will pray. I will give thanksgiving as well, but I will pray.” I pray tomorrow because God answered yesterday. The more definite my prayer is, the more obvious and encouraging my gratitude is.
Today, be aware of your needs. That is probably fairly easy. But look out, be vigilant, and be watchful for answers. Observe your answers to prayer at least as readily as you observe your needs and you will find yourself growing in the matter of prayer.