Does the concept of watching while we are praying seem strange to you? We need to be mindful to ensure our prayer life keeps us in a right relationship with God. This devotion looks at being watchful.
Nuggets
- If we aren’t looking for Satan and his shenanigans, we are easier prey for him.
- God could just step in and save us from temptations — but He probably isn’t going to do that.
- Prayer helps us gain stability in our walk.
- We have to watch for our opportunities to serve and the blessings God gives us.
To read devotions in the What Is Prayer? series, click the appropriate button below.
Watching while Praying
Okay, now wait a second, Chick. Watch while praying???
How are we supposed to do that? Eyes closed. Head bowed. How are we supposed to watch?
Well, for one thing. We don’t have to have our eyes closed and our heads bowed. Yes, that is a good position to assume sometimes. Even getting down on our knees is a good idea if we are physically able.
If we are to pray continually (I Thess 5: 17), that isn’t possible. How are we going to pray and drive with our eyes closed?
Second thing is God wants a reverent attitude. He wants a humble heart. He wants a focused mind.
Let's Put It into Context
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart” (Col. 4: 2 NLT)
Let’s talk about mind first. We have looked at this before.
We said that our minds house our thoughts and beliefs. We use our minds to decide to ask Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer and give control of our lives over to our Sovereign God.
Following God has to be a daily decision. It has to be an ongoing submission. That has to be a choice that we make in our minds.
But nothing is ever smooth sailing.
Be on Alert
Now let’s look at the adjective. We need an alert mind.
This is a military term. You know, post the guard to keep watch so the rest will be safe while they are sleeping. It means being watchful.
Swinnock said that watchfulness is “a diligent observation of ourselves in all things, and at all times, that we may please God always.
Ooo, baby. Does Satan try to slip something in on us or not? He is a master at hey-it’s-harmless — when it really isn’t.
Besides, until we became believers, Satan didn’t have to worry about us. Now that we are believers — and worse, disciples — Satan has to do everything he can to turn us away from God.
Now, we have to watch for Satan.
If we aren’t looking for Satan and his shenanigans, we are easier prey for him. Swinnock also said, “if the eye of watchfulness be once shut, the soul is open to all wickedness.” We don’t want to be open to sin.
We keep alert by calling on God to guard us. We have to use our minds to pay attention to what is happening to us. When Satan tries something, we need to call on God to protect us.
Watch for Temptations
“and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) — then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority” (II Pet. 2: 7-10 CSB)
This is one of those long run-on sentences. If you have time, find II Peter 2 in your Bible and start at verse four. It is a good read.
The point it is making is we have to watch for temptations to come. Yes, God could just step in and save us — but He probably isn’t going to do that.
God may be using this temptation as a test. Either way, the temptation could just be a result of sin in the world.
So, we have to watch against Satan trying to get us to sin. We also have to watch others. Satan may be trying to desensitize us with their sin.
We’ve already talked about Satan’s hey-it’s-harmless tactic. He also uses a I-can’t-win-so-I’ll-just-give-in strategy. Or maybe the oh-I’ll-really-just-something-else lie.
This is why we have to be observant. Satan is the master manipulator. If we aren’t careful, we’ve sinned.
But this is going to make more than just watching. Barrett said, “If he watch only, he can do nothing, for he contends with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. But if he watch and pray, he, too, can summon powers omnipotent to his rescue. And prayer is communication with the power.”
A couple months ago, we had a devotion on spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is the fight between the spiritual forces of good and evil.
We think it is us fighting Satan. It really isn’t. God fights Satan for us. Our responsibility is to pray to call on God to fight the battle. We have to choose to stand with Him and for Him.
Watch for Sleepers
“I will not allow my eyes to sleep or my eyelids to slumber until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Ps. 132: 4-5 CSB)
Moore gave us a great sermon on the three definitions of sleep. There is the nighty-night sleep, death sleep, and eternal death sleep.
Okay, when I am writing this, it is the end of the first week of the new semester. Instead of taking one class, Adam is taking three. That means I have to drive him to class five days a week.
Unfortunately for me, the early to rise has not yet equated into early to bed. I am wiped. My head is fuzzy.
I have to watch that I don’t fall asleep — again — while I am writing. I have to make sure my nice, sunny disposition doesn’t get eroded by fuzz.
We are used to that sleep.
We may or may not know when death sleep was coming. We had a lot of clues with Mom. We had very little clues with Dad.
Eternal death sleep has the greatest consequences. The opposite of alert, to me, would be indifferent. We would have no opinion as to whether there is a Supreme Being who created all of this and is still calling the shots. Bottom line is we wouldn’t care.
That don’t-care attitude will land us in eternal torment.
To read a devotion in the Hell Does Have Fury series, click on the appropriate button below.
Luckily as children of God, we walk in the Light. It is time to live the lives that God has called us to live. It is time to serve Him.
We can’t let that sleep of indifference cross the path of our walks. We need to focus on God.
Prayer helps us gain stability in our walk. It helps us to not become complacent when we have that mountain-top experience. It will help us with our insecurities.
Watch for God
“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Mt. 26: 41 NLT)
It isn’t all just watching for the bad stuff. It is watching for God.
We have to watch for our opportunities to serve. Sometimes, we have to really pay attention, or we will miss opportunities. That is especially true in witnessing opportunities. We recently talked about our missing opportunities to encourage fellow disciples.
But we also sometimes tend to miss God’s blessings. We either don’t see the true meaning behind something or — worse — it isn’t what we were expecting, so we discount it.
We don’t watch closely enough to see when God is taking us down a different fork in the road. We think we know what He has plan, so we go full steam ahead.
Oops. God is on a parallel or intersecting road. And we didn’t see it.
Most of all, we have to watch for Jesus’ return. He is coming back. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Jn. 14; 1-3 KJV).
Making the Connections
Which do we do more often: pray without watching or watch without praying?
We pray but we are going through the motions. We are just clicking off the checklist.
We aren’t listening for God to talk back.
Sometimes, we watch to see if God is working — without lifting up our prayers to Him. It may be a touch of entitlement, but it could be a generous helping of indifference.
How Do We Apply This?
Wilson gave us some good advice.
- Watch our attitudes before we enter into our prayer time.
- Watch our focus during our prayer time.
- Watch our actions after our prayer time.
So, our discipline of our prayer life comes down to our attitudes. We choose our attitudes. Are we going to choose for God or against?
Father God. We choose You. We choose You as our Sovereign Lord and as our Father. Help us to be watchful for Satan’s attacks. My we always put on Your armor so we can withstand them. Amen.
What do you think?
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