Colossians 4:2
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
An encouragement to give time to pray (devote) with our mind and our heart – be alert and be thankful! A time of quiet prayer can be the most peaceful time one can enjoy. We normally think that God is listening to prayers from far away. Next time when we pray, know that we are inviting God into our circumstances, our fear, our pain, our hope, and our dream. When we pray, we enter a relational experience with God as we talk and listen to Him wherever we may be … anywhere in our home or in our garden, in our car or during our walk, in our happiness or sadness. Devote our mind and heart to pray, not only when we are in need (raining days) but also on every good day (sunny days). This quote reminds us, “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines” (by Satchel Paige).[1]
A.W. Tozer’s writing on “To be right, we must think right” will speak to us on being alert or watchful to pray. He says:
“The more I think about it the madder I get” is the way the average (people) state it, and in so doing not only report accurately on (their) own mental processes but pay as well an unconscious tribute to the power of thought. Thinking stirs feeling and feeling triggers action. That is the way we are made and we may as well accept it.[2]
An example from the Bible describes an angry thought and an alert mind to talk with God: Psalm 39:3-4 – The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words: “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is.” Instead of letting our thoughts to control our tongues to sin, take our complaints to God be it about our jobs, money, or situations.
Tozer advised for how people can be alert of their voluntary thoughts by checking on what those thoughts were about over the last hours or day, and where to place them:
The best way to control our thoughts is to offer the mind to God in complete surrender. The Holy Spirit will accept it and take control of it immediately. Then it will be relatively easy to think on spiritual things, especially if we train our thought by long periods of daily prayer. Long practice in the art of mental prayer will help to form the habit of holy thought.[3]
Who can be so religious for “long periods of daily prayer”? We can’t deny that we “self-talk” inwardly throughout the day, consciously and unconsciously. Such “self-talk” may not yield good solutions. Instead, try training ourselves to talk with God inwardly throughout the day. Before the Holy Spirit will accept our mind of thoughts and help us through our talk with God, we must be in Christ Jesus. Receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit will come into our lives to be our Helper to lead our thoughts and our talks.
Journeying with you … Pastor Susan
[1] https://proverbicals.com/prayer
[2] A.W. Tozer, Prayer, (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016), 39-40.
[3] Tozer, 42