As a prelude to the Col 4:2, Paul
began to give specific instructions to specific groups of people in the
Colossian church .i.e. wives, husbands, children, fathers, servants, and
masters (Col 3:18-4:1). However, at Col 4:2, he gave an admonition, unlike the ones
addressed to specific groups within the church, but one that applied to the
whole Colossian church – “continue in prayers, and watch in the same with
thanksgiving.” The word, “continue” contains a presumption that they were
already praying Christians – which presumption cannot be safely made in
contemporary Christianity. Nevertheless,
it is helpful to found continuity in prayers on a good understanding of what
prayer is from God’s word.
What
does it mean to pray/what is prayer?
Prayer is what is commonly practised
by several people, and from time past. Catholics pray, Muslims pray, Hindus
pray, even idol worshippers pray. Perhaps it is primarily within the world of
Atheists, which is fast gaining grounds, that people who do not pray can be
found. There seems to be that innate desire within man to pray, even to gods,
or to a God they are not really acquainted with (Acts 17:22-23). This
non-acquaintance with the true God has led to prayers or worship being offered
to gods/idols, (Is 44:13-15, Exodus 32:1-2), instead of the true God. This is
what prayers have become to most people, but it ought not to be the case for
the believer (1 Cor 8:6-7). Our prayer culture should be founded on proper insight
from God’s word.
The first mention of prayer in Bible
is in Genesis 4:26, after the birth of Enos. There, it was recorded that men
began to “call upon the name of the Lord”.
From the Bible, we can perceive that
men prayed differently historically. Moses and Aaron lived in the same
dispensation, but Moses’ prayers must have been different from Aaron’s because
of a better understanding of God. The same can be said about the prayers of
David, relative to Saul’s. Jesus’ prayer was definitely different from that of
the Pharisees (Mt 6:1-8). This was what informed his disciple’s request that
Jesus taught them how to pray. The distinction is further stressed by Jesus
Himself when He admonished them not to pray like the Pharisees did (Mt 6:9-13).
At this point, it must be reiterated that prayer was not a new phenomenon,
people had been praying even under the Old Testament. Jesus however expounded
principles governing prayer. We see that prayer should not be done the way it
is done in the world not because of superstition, or because people usually
prayed, but because we have the privilege of conversing with the true and
living God – our Savour, Redeemer and Creator. To us, prayer should be an
opportunity to converse with God, and it should be governed by the principles
highlighted below.
Principles
governing prayer
1.
Sincerity:
Jesus warned his disciples to desist from hypocrisy in prayer (Mt 6:5). The
meaning of hypocrisy is well depicted by an actor, who assumes a role quite
different from whom he really is. It is very much like the actors who take up
roles in Nollywood different from whom they really are. Hypocrisy is basically
acting differently from one’s true identity. The crux of Jesus’ teaching on the
issue is SINCERITY. Prayer is communicating with God, it is not about teaching
on prayer, or quoting back verses to God – who inspired the entire scriptures.
It is conversing with him, and this must be done in sincerity. When praying, we
should cast away pride, or pretentiousness and commune with God in sincerity.
2.
Assurance of faith (Mk 11:24): Faith must be a factor that must be found in our prayers. Indeed,
faith is not just restricted to our prayers, but must pervade every sphere of
our lives as Christians. It is the way we are to conduct our life in the flesh.
It is the only way to please God (Heb 11:6). Heb 10:22, not only stressed the
idea of sincerity, but also accentuate the principle of assurance of faith:
“draw near with a TRUE heart and full ASSURANCE OF FAITH”. Truth be said,
drawing near to God with a true heart and assurance of faith is not unique to
New Testament believers. For example Simeon in Luke 2 could be said to have
both ingredients of sincerity and assurance of faith in his prayer. However,
the third principle highlighted below is what distinguishes the New Testament
believers’ prayers from those under the Old Testament – prayer under the
authority of Jesus.
3.
Prayer under the authority of Jesus (Jn 15:16, John 16:23-24): Asking in
the name of Jesus does not mean we verbalize whatever we want to say and then finalize with the name of Jesus.
Asking in the name of Jesus means asking in the authority of Jesus. Authority
is what “name” signified in their culture – comparable to the authority an
officer who acts in the name of the Queen, Government or Crown has. We can pray
in His name not because of any good thing we have done, but because through Him,
we have been granted access to God (Rom 5:1-2, Eph 2:18, 3:11, Heb 10:19-22).
We have access because He paid the price by shedding His blood. Because of this
we can approach God under the authority of Jesus, without cringing or crying or
begging, but in boldness and confidence, just like Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus
(John 11:41). Despite all the despondency and gloom all around, Jesus had no doubt
at all that He was heard, and prayed in sincerity, boldness and assurance. We
should have the same attitude Jesus displayed because we pray in His name (His
authority).
4.
Pray in accordance with His will (1 Jn 5:14-15, James 4:3): How many
times have we asked God in prayer for things which are not in accordance with
his will for our selfish desires? Bible declares that is only when prayer is
done in accordance with God’s will that we have confidence that we have been
heard and that we have what we ask of Him. God answers when our prayers are in
accordance with His will.
We can decipher His will through
continual study of God’s word. A thorough acquaintance with the will of God
will change the content of our prayers. It will ensue in us dropping things
which we normally prayed for when we know that it is not in line with His will.
In any event, when we cannot apprehend the will of God, we can pray to Him in
tongues, knowing that we have the help of the spirit who knows the entirety of
God’s will (Rom 8:26).
Predicated on the foregoing context,
believers are admonished to CONTINUE IN PRAYERS. It means to maintain the
frequency and constancy of the discipline of prayer. We are to persevere in
prayer (Eph 6:17, 1 Thes 5:17, Rom 12:12). Does “praying without ceasing” mean
we go into seclusion, and never do anything else? No! It means we should not
allow times of intermission to happen- or that there should never be seasons in
our life when we go prayerless. Continuity in prayers should not be limited to
church settings, but continuity must be
maintained in prayers beyond the confines of the church.
The life of Jesus was characterized by
prayers. At different points we see Him withdrawing from the crowd, and
engaging in prayers alone with God (Lk 4:22, 6:12, Mt 14:23, Mk 1:35, Heb 5:7,
Mk 6:46-48, Jn 6:15). Prayers was also part of the early church’s practice
[Acts 2:42 (a continual practice); Acts 4:31 (after persecution); Acts 6:4
(deacons appointed to enable greater attention to prayer); Acts 12:5 (on
account of Peter’s imprisonment); Acts
16:25 ( Paul and Silas in jail); Acts 20:36 (Paul while departing from the
Ephesian church’s elders). Jesus also
drove the idea of continuity home with a parable in Luke 18:1. We are to pray
whether there is trouble or whether there is no trouble; and whether we are in
prosperity or whether we are in adversity.
Finally we are to note that:
[a] our prayers should be laced with
thanksgiving – an attitude which must permeate every facet of our lives (Col
4:2)
[b] our prayers have an effect e.g on
ministry (Col 4:3), on events (James 5:16), and on us (Jude 18), and other
believers (Eph 6:17).
This should produce in us the desire
to maintain continuity in prayers.
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