Paul tells us in our passage to “continue steadfastly in prayer.”  We are not to grow weary or discouraged as we offer up those prayers that do not get answered as quickly as we would like.  We are not to give up and lose heart; rather, we are to persevere in our petitions, because through times of waiting and uncertainty God is refining our character and forming us more into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

There are any number of passages on prayer to which one could turn.  But there is something powerfully succinct about Paul’s words in Colossians 4: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (v. 2).  Here we have directions concerning our attitude and response, which surely shapes our actual prayers that we offer up to God.

We are to come before God with the acknowledgment that whatever the request, the outcome will not come about because of our own wisdom or efforts.  To be sure, there may be things we are called upon to do, and these actions may well be the means through which God accomplishes his sovereign will.  But we always approach our heavenly Father as one who is completely dependent upon him for everything.  After all, it is the “throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16) to which we come, and thus we come as sinners in need of God’s matchless favor to the utterly undeserving.  There is thus the related attitude of humility, recognizing that we have no claim upon God, but receive his blessings out of his abundant goodness and mercy.

Paul tells us in our passage to “continue steadfastly in prayer.”  We are not to grow weary or discouraged as we offer up those prayers that do not get answered as quickly as we would like.  We are not to give up and lose heart; rather, we are to persevere in our petitions, because through times of waiting and uncertainty God is refining our character and forming us more into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We live in a fast-paced world that frequently looks for instant results.  God does not operate by these same standards.  Yes, sometimes answers to prayer come quickly.  But other times God takes what we know as the “long view” because he knows it is what we need.

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