Prayer Cards - Devoted Prayer

 

Colossians 4:2

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

    Be constantly diligent; be aware and alert to the need for constant communication with our heavenly Father, especially on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are out on the mission field. As Paul states in the next verse, "as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for The Word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains."

    Devote also means, 'to persevere', which in turn means we are to move forward despite setbacks and obstacles. Keep on praying regardless of who tells you not to. We can pray silently when we are surrounded by people who are offended by our prayers. When we live in a state of prayer, it is just as important to us as the air we breathe.

    Here Paul is writing to a group of Christians, so he addresses all to continue in prayer together, not just one-on-one prayer with God, but praying in the unity of The Spirit, under His lead and in His power.

    Be alert to the needs of the church as a whole. Be alert to the individual needs of each of us who makeup the church. Be alert to the approach of the enemy at the gate. Be alert to the wolves in sheep's clothing who have infiltrated the church's doors, whose words and actions do not align themselves with the whole Word of God.

    Thank God for the integrity and honest principles of the faithful leaderships which God has placed within your local church and all over the world. Thank God for your salvation and for keeping you. Thank God for Who He Is: for loving us, saving us, protecting us, leading us: "For His mercy endures forever." 

Arming The Spiritual Warrior -- Diligent

 2 Peter 3:14 

Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight. 

The preamble to this verse is 2 Peter 3:10-13

(10)  But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

(11) All these things being dissolved in this way, what kind ought you to be? In holy conduct and godliness,

(12) expecting and hastening the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens will be dissolved, being set on fire, and the elements are melting, burning with heat.

(13) But according to His promise, we are awaiting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 4704

Every Effort: to move speedily by showing full diligence (fully applying oneself); acting fervently (speedy commitment) to accomplish all that God assigns through faith ("His inbirthed persuasion"); to make haste, to give diligence.

The Diligent Spiritual Warrior keeps digging through God's Word while in constant communication with The Holy Spirit, working our way through it until we reach the nuggets of wisdom that help us gain a better understanding of what it means to be Diligent.

THE DILIGENT

 

The Diligent are Threshers. 

Isaiah 41:15, 16

Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

The Diligent Soul Prospers

Proverbs 10:4

Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Proverbs 13:4

The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

The Diligent Strategize & Work Hard To Accomplish Their Purpose

Proverbs 12:24

The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Proverbs 21:5

The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

DILIGENCE MAKES OUR HOPE SURE

Hebrews 6:11, 12

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. 

Hebrews 3:6

But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast.

Knowing that our diligence to be faithful in our hope of salvation and patience in eagerly anticipating The Day of The Lord, when all wickedness will be consumed, we must also be diligent in winning the lost souls to Christ, that they would not be consumed in the coming conflagration. 

Jude 1:23

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

With this thought in mind, let us pray earnestly all the more: mornings and afternoons and evenings and throughout the nights. Effectual Fervent Prayer accomplishes God's purpose for the one being prayed for, just like electric current flowing from the power plant (GOD) through the cables (The Holy Spirit) into the outlet (the person praying) which attaches to another cable (the person being prayed for) to produce an instant action (that which is being prayed for). 

James 5:16

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

A Diligent Spiritual Warrior must be spotless (without stain) and blameless (without fault). We will all be held accountable to God for how we lived our lives. To be spotless is to have our sins washed away. To be blameless is to have Christ ruling in our hearts. For we are His temple, His house: in us He dwells (takes up residence). He cleans His house on a daily basis, when we let Him. A Diligent Spiritual Warrior allows Christ to clean His house. 

There is no fault to be found in Christ. Because He lives and lives in the born again believer there should be no fault in us either when The Day of The Lord makes its appearance. 

John 19:6

Therefore when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate says to them, "Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him." 

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No 156
Fault:  a cause, reason, excuse; a charge, accusation; guilt

Therefore let us persevere in our daily walk with Jesus Christ to be the Diligent Spiritual Warriors He has called us to be. Let us grab hold of this grace He has extended us and pray that all may come to know Him personally. 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for saving me, for calling me out of the darkness and into Your marvelous Light. Thank You for leading me through Your Word and filling me with Your Holy Spirit, that I might walk these last days, these last hours, with Your strength, Your peace. I pray that everyone who reads this knows You, in all Your glory and strives to become Your Spiritual Warriors, too. 

Many whom we pray for have heard Your Name but have not kept You near: whatever it takes Save them before it's too late. We grab them by the collar and shake off the flames which are encroaching on their souls. 

A slap upside the head doesn't seem to work any more, Lord, so give ear to our prayers and break their hardened hearts for You. Save our lost family members, our lost acquaintances, our lost strangers and our lost enemies. for they are all lost in the darkness of this world until they, too, see Your marvelous Light, just like we did. 

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen.