Pray. Watch. Rejoice! (Downloadable Resource)
“True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that - it is spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.”
Last Sunday we walked through Colossians 4:2 together, and went into v.3-4 a bit as well:
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison — that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”
And we saw that prayer is not just tossing wishes for a better life up to God. Rather, it is participating in the present day work of Christ on earth. It is getting actively and personally involved in the work of advancing God’s kingdom.
Furthermore, we saw that God intends for us to actually see and discern the work of His hand around us. King David put it this way centuries before the coming of Christ:
“O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I direct my prayer to you and watch.” Psalm 5:3
Seeing the work of God in response to our prayers requires the watchfulness that both David and Paul wrote about — and even Jesus spoke about during His earthly ministry.
It involves not only believing that God will answer, but being willing to recognize and accept God’s perfect, loving, and faithful answers … even when they look nothing like what we originally asked for.
Lastly, we saw that praying and discerning God’s active response to us ultimately leads to an expression of rejoicing, gratitude, overflowing joy and worship.
Practicing this “Pauline process” of praying, watching, and rejoicing can infuse an entirely new dimension of vibrance, intimacy with God, and joy into our lives. To help make it more practicable, I’ve created a simple downloadable discipleship tool for you:
Download the “Pray. Watch. Rejoice!” Tool.
It serves as a simple prayer journal to help you cultivate, not only the habit of prayer, but the habit of watchfulness and worshipful gratitude to God. You can also find it on our Discipleship Tools page.
If you missed Sunday’s message, the video is below. It will help unpack these truths in far greater depth.
Finally, if you find yourself living “pray, watch, rejoice”, and see God move, and find your heart overflowing with joy as He answers, please reach out to me and let me know! It would bring me great joy to hear about it.
Pastor Josh