Salvation Summaries

This is my sixth post on prayer.  In this one, I will review Paul’s second set of verses in Colossians on prayer.  This set is not an actual prayer, but rather how important prayer should be to us as Christians, and by extension, how often we should do it.

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving                (Col 4:2, NAS)

Meaning of Devote

In this verse, Paul tells us (more accurately the Colossian believers, but it applies to us) that we are to “devote” ourselves to prayer.  What does this mean?

I think most of us would define devote as committing yourself to something or someone. For example, when I hear it, the first thing I think of is marriage, where a husband is devoted to his wife, or a wife to her husband.  Devoting yourself to prayer, then, would seem to mean that you commit yourself to doing it, which would take time and effort.

However, when I looked up devote in a few dictionaries, there is more to its meaning than I realized. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines devote as “to dedicate by a solemn act, to direct the attention wholly or chiefly,” and it defines solemn as “religiously serious; devout; marked by reverence to God.”  Per an online dictionary, devote means that you give all, or a large part, of one’s time or resources to a person, activity or cause. Using both definitions, devote yourselves to prayer would mean that you 1) do so out of reverence to God, 2) take it seriously, 3) are committed or dedicated to doing it, and 4) spend a large part of your time in it.

If the above definition is true, then let me ask you, “Is this how you pray?” Me neither.

Now, some of you might be saying, “I agree with most of your definition, but not the last part about spending so much time praying.  After all, in my marriage I am devoted to my spouse, but I spend most of my day working and doing other things, so I physically can’t spend a good part of each day with her (him). Surely, there must be other Bible verses that say we do not need to pray this much.”

To answer this, I looked up every Bible verse with the word devote, devoted, devotes, devoting and devotion to better understand what “devote yourselves to prayer” may mean in terms of its importance and the amount of time we should spend doing it. Below is a summary of what I found using all relevant verses from the NT and excluding those from the OT (to keep things simple).

Jesus’ disciples and others devoted themselves to teaching, preaching, fellowship communion and prayer

• Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
• Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
• 1 Timothy 4:13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.

We are to devote ourselves to God

• Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
• Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
• Psalm 86:2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.
• 1 Corinthians 7:5 Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control…. ³⁴ and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world– how she can please her husband. ³⁵ I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

We are to devote ourselves to Jesus

• 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

We are to devote ourselves to doing what is good for others

• Titus 3:8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
• 1 Tim 3:14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.

We are to devote ourselves to loving and serving other believers

• Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

We are to devote ourselves to prayer

• Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

So, based upon the above, prayer is not the only thing Christians are devote themselves to. We are to devote ourselves to God the Father, to Jesus, to doing what is good for others, to loving and serving other believers, and also to prayer.  Also, we are to spend a good part of our time doing it, and thus it should represent an important part of our life. However, these verses don’t specifically address how often we should pray.  To better answer this question, we need to look at a related verse in 1 Thessalonians, and also see how frequently Jesus and Paul prayed.

Related Verse

1 Thes 5:16-18 “16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thes 5:17 says that we are to pray without ceasing (or stopping), which seems to go beyond being devoted to prayer.  Are we to take it at face value and pray all of the time?  Let me offer two thoughts.

As we know, context is important to interpret any word or verse. In verse 16, we are to rejoice always.  I believe the “always” in verse 16 and “without ceasing” are to be viewed similarly. Rejoicing constantly is not something we can realistically do every minute of every day, right?  As a result, I think it speaks of the attitude we are to have as Christians (we are to be joyful), and, it is something we should do often. Now, to rejoice often, we will likely need the help of the Holy Spirit within us (one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy) and be mature in our faith.  Similarly, if we are to pray often, we also will need help from the Holy Spirit and a mature faith. Of course, my interpretation of verse 17 could be wrong, so let’s see what two pastors have to say about it.

Charles Stanley and Warren Wiersbe offer helpful interpretations of verse 17.  According to Charles Stanley, praying without ceasing means that our prayers are to “recur frequently throughout the day. Unceasing prayer is a way of life, not an occasional occurrence prompted by trouble or a quick addition at the end of the day. God wants us to focus our attention on Him consistently.”  According to Warren Wiersbe, “without ceasing means means that it should be constantly recurring. Our prayer is to be part of a long conversation that is not broken.”

My view lines up more with Stanley’s, but that’s not to say that Wiersbe is wrong.  Stanley says we are to focus our attention on God consistently and pray frequently, while Wiersbe says we are to pray on an ongoing basis.  Either way, we are to pray often each day.

Also, one thing that stood out to me from Stanley’s interpretation is that praying the way Paul tells us to will very likely require a change in lifestyle for most Christians.  I would guess that most of us pray before our meals and say a short prayer before bedtime. We might also pray a few times during the day if we are really concerned about something or thankful that something we prayed for came true (whether it was due to our prayers or not).  However, if “point A” is how often we pray now, then we have a long way to go – miles and miles – to get to point B .  To get to point B, devotion not simply to prayer but to God will need to become top priority in our life so that we spend more time doing it.

How often Jesus and Paul prayed

Jesus took prayer seriously, for He would get up early (while it was still dark) to pray, walk up the side of a mountain (large hill) to find a solitary place to pray, and at least on one occasion He prayed all night.  In addition, Jesus prayed often.  If He took prayer seriously and often prayed, then we should to.

• Mark 1:35 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
• Luke 6:12-13 12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:
• Luke 5:16 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Paul practiced what he preached, for he constantly prayed for other believers.  We can use him as a model too in how often we should pray.

• I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. (2 Tim 1:3)

• For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you…(Col 1:9)

Summary

Paul tells us in Colossians 4:2 that we are to devote ourselves to prayer.  To devote ourselves to prayer means that we do so out of reverence to God, take prayer seriously, are committed or dedicated to doing it, and as such spend a large part of our time in it.

Paul also says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that we are to pray without ceasing, which seems to go beyond being devoted to it.  Although this phrase is open to interpretation, it likely means that we should pray to God throughout each day as part of an ongoing conversation with Him. Jesus and Paul frequently prayed to God, and should be models for us in how often we should pray and how serious we take it.

In order to say that we are devoted to prayer and pray without ceasing, God must be elevated to the top of our priority list, with praying to Him part of this.  Praying to this extent will likely require a change in lifestyle for a number of Christians (self included).