...being watchful and thankful.

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

Day 3: being.

Being... to be something. Not just to think something or do something, but to be something. I think it includes thinking and doing though.

BE devoted to prayer.
BE watchful.
BE thankful.

In this sentence, the "being" connects the second part of the sentence. Being watchful and thankful in your devoted prayer is like the adjectives. It's describing it further.


Day 4: watchful.

The Greek word is defined as: a) I am awake (in the night), watch, (b) I am watchful, on the alert, vigilant. The literal meaning is being awake and watching, and the figurative meaning is to be responsible and watching.

It is the same Greek word used in the verses that Jesus asked his disciples to stay and watch that they might not fall asleep as he went up the mountain to pray before he was taken away, and the same in Revelation 16:15 that says, "Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.” As well as other verses like this, of that urgent attention.

From biblehub.com that I really liked on this:

"Watch thereunto; as a sentinel suspecting the approach of an enemy; as a watchman guarding the city during the darkness of the night; as a physician attending all the symptoms of a disease; as the keeper of a prison watching an insidious and treacherous criminal. Our hearts need all this care; spiritual enemies are near; the darkness of the soul exposes it to danger; the disease of sin requires a watchful treatment; and the unparalleled deceitfulness of the affections can never safely be trusted for a moment. No; we must watch before prayer in order to dismiss the world from our thoughts, to gather up our minds in God, and to implore the Holy Spirit's help. We must watch during prayer; to guard against distraction, against the incursions of evil thoughts, against wanderings of mind, and decay of fervour in our supplications. We must watch after prayer, in order that we may act consistently with what we have been imploring of Almighty God, wait His time for answering us, and not lose the visitations of grace; for with God are the moments of life, of mercy, of enlargement, and of gracious consolation."
(Bishop D. Wilson.)


Day 5: and thankful.

I didn't find anything different about this Greek word. It is simply as it is, being thankful.

When someone comes from a third world country, or even a second world, and comes into a first world country, their thankfulness is skyrocketed. They are so thankful for clean water, running water, hot water, food, air conditioning, heat, a stove, a microwave... everything.

I had a job a few summers ago where I was an intern at a corporate office, and I may have been the youngest and lowest paying person in the building, with the smallest office, but straight out of college I was THRILLED about every single thing. The pay was great, I was so excited to have my own little office (I really didn't care that my window looked into the hallway instead of the outside), I was so thankful when they paid for me to pick out my own office supplies, I was so thankful for an hour off for lunch so that I could have lunch with friends when I wanted to... But lets say I stayed there for 5 years. Would I grow entitled? Would I grow resentful that I couldn't move up in the company even though I was unqualified? Would I become unthankful? Would I become jealous that other people got to travel all over the country, because this was their job, and I was merely an office assistant?

While I will never get the chance to know, my point is that I want to be thankful no matter what. To someone in a mud hut in Africa, I am incredibly rich and blessed. But stepping back from a human perspective, God has given each of us things to be thankful for.

When I was in college and living with a roommate in a house, she would put her dog inside her room on days it rained or was too cold while she was at work. But the dog just saw it as a punishment. She whined as I left the house to go to class, with her still in the room instead of outside... she didn't understand that where she wanted to go, outside, would be much worse than being inside, dry and warm. This thought process is something I think of every once in a while and try to remember. Where I see things being unfair or frustrating or slow, God smiles and sees that I am exactly where I need to be. I am thankful for a God who puts me in places I need to be, instead of allowing me to always go do things my way and be miserable about it.

And so, in prayer, this thankfulness guides the conversation with God. To be thankful and watchful and devoted to prayer... these are three important ingredients to prayer.