Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. (Colossians 4:2-4)
I once visited an elderly woman in a nursing home. She quietly admitted how useless she felt. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t leave her floor in the building. She struggled to even hear and see the television. What good was she anymore? She felt useless.
I asked her, “What do you do?” She said, “Well, about all I can do is pray. I pray for my children each by name. Then I pray for my grandchildren each by name. Then I pray for my great-grandchildren each by name. Then I pray for my pastors and for people I remember from church. Then I pray for whatever friends come to mind. And when I finish, I start over again. That’s about all I’m able to do. Just pray.”
What a wonderful thing! That woman who felt so useless in the nursing home accomplishes more each day than you and I often do. Would you agree? She was devoted to prayer. What a wonderful thing!
Are you and I? Sometimes, the more we busy ourselves with, the less we actually accomplish. Our days are filled with this and that all day long, and we don’t feel like we have the time to stop and pray about anything. Maybe we need to be in a nursing home to be truly useful. To be devoted to prayer. Our gracious God can certainly accomplish more in answer to our prayers than we ever could running this way and that, can’t he? So, “devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
In your prayers, as you pray for God’s grace on your family and friends and life, don’t forget to pray for something very important: The spread of God’s Word. Pray for pastors, that we may proclaim Christ clearly and boldly, even if it means persecution or chains. Pray for Christians everywhere, that God may open doors for the message of Jesus to be shared and believed. Isn’t that what Jesus taught us to pray? “Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done.”
Far from feeling useless, there is so much God can accomplish when we’re devoted to prayer.
Dear Jesus, may I never be too busy or important to devote my time to prayer. Open doors for your gospel to be shared with more and more people, and give Christians courage to proclaim you. Amen.
コメント