What Does a Good Prayer Life Look Like?

Further Instructions - Colossians 4:2-6

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 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. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
As Paul closes his letter to the Colossians his focus is on prayer.  Prayer is good in any and every form, but Paul describes some of the important qualities in prayer.  Paul says to be "devoted" to prayer.  The word implies being sincere, consistent and persevering in prayer.  Paul knows that prayer is the key reason the doors have been opened in his ministry, and the means by which God's kingdom has been unleashed in a powerful way through his ministry.  
Paul says to be "watchful", which can also mean vigilant, sober and some think it refers to not physically falling asleep during prayer.  We see this happened in Jesus and Paul's ministry.  Being watchful in prayer may also mean being aware of what God is saying in prayer.  This can be in praying for God's will in your life or praying for another person.  Sometimes we pray not expecting God to interact with us at all in prayer.  But we can pray knowing as Paul teaches, "the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say when do you don't know what to pray."
Finally, Paul says to be thankful when we pray. Why is an attitude of gratitude so important as we pray?  It assumes that God has answered our prayer before and given us what we need and will do it again. Thus our current prayer is building on God's past faithfulness.  Even as we pray for things where we do not know the outcome, or are in fear or anxiety over the outcome, we can pray with thanksgiving knowing God's will be done.
Are you devoted in your prayer life?  There may be no more important activity that we undertake as Christians.  Paul prayed that a door would be opened for the gospel and that he would proclaim it clearly when he had the opportunity.  We should pray for people like Paul and others today who preach and proclaim the gospel and an open door for them to preach.  But remember you too will have open doors to preach the gospel in your life.  As in other places, Paul tells us to be prepared so that we may make the most of every opportunity to share the grace of God in Christ Jesus!  We may be the only person someone meets where they will have a chance to hear about Jesus and his great love for us!    

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