be alert – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)

Why pray?

I think we see several reasons in Paul’s instructions on how to pray.

“Stay alert in it.”

Those words remind me of Jesus’ words to his disciples.

Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

We pray so that we can be aware of how Satan is trying to attack us during the day.

We pray because we are weak. And we need God’s strength as we face Satan’s attacks and the trials we face each day.

But just as importantly, we pray so that we can see what God is doing around us and join in with what he’s doing, making the most of every opportunity he gives us. (5)

There’s one more reason to pray, though. To remember God’s goodness. To remember his grace and toward us. And as we remember and rest in those things, we start to live each day with gratefulness and joy.

So let us pray each day, staying alert in it, full of thanksgiving.

Watching and waiting for our Lord

In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near—at the door… Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming. (Mark 13:29,33)

None of us know when Jesus is coming. But we know that his return will come in difficult times.

The problem with difficult times is that we often end up focusing on our own problems. We become very internally focused, and we forget to watch for his return.

But watching for his return does not merely mean looking to the sky waiting for him to come.

It means doing the things he has called you to do. (Luke 12:42-43)

And one of the main things he has called us to do each day is to touch the people he’s put in our lives with his love.

At the end of each day, can we look back and say that we have done that? Or will we look back and see a day totally focused on ourselves?

May we never waste a day as we watch and wait for our Lord’s return.