April 26

Devote Yourselves to Prayer

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

Devote yourselves to prayer! Devote is a powerful word. Webster's Dictionary explains it this way, "to give or apply (one's time, attention, or self) entirely to a particular activity, pursuit, cause, or person." What was the reason Paul put such an emphasis on prayer? Simply put, Paul knew prayer was vital for victory. Since Satan never lets up on any of us, it should be obvious why we need to devote ourselves to prayer. Prayer puts at our fingertips the power of God. All light, power and life comes from our Father in heaven and we are continually dependent upon Him. It is only through prayer and expressing our needs to Him that He can supply us with the guidance and strength needed to see us through. Whatever the trial we are experiencing, we need the grace of God to see us through it. Just because we devote ourselves to prayer does not mean that God will remove the trial, more often than not He won't. Why? Because He knows that we will grow much stronger if we go through the trial than if He removes the trial from our lives. Only when we devote ourselves to prayer in the matter will we find the grace to see us through the experience. He will provide for us the strength and the power that we need to get us to the other side. If we are watchful, we will recognize His hand and we can then be thankful for His grace to help us. Let us each resolve this day to devote ourselves to prayer and then watch and see what miracles He will bring forth, that we might glorify Him continually.

Father, help us to come to You often in prayer. Let the desire to commune with You burn in our hearts. It is so important to be able to maintain the intimacy that we need with You and it can only be done through prayer. Help us to devote ourselves to that task and let us watch with grateful hearts as You work in our lives, answering our prayers and the desires of our hearts. Amen