OUR COMMITMENT FOR OVERSEA PROPAGATION
Message Three
Persevering in Prayer
Scripture Reading:
Col 4:2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.
Rom. 12:12 …persevere in prayer.
In Order to Fight on God’s Side against Satan,
We Need to Persevere in Prayer
According to Paul’s word in 4:2, the thing that requires our perseverance is prayer. Two parties, God and Satan, are hostile to each other. Satan is both the enemy without and the adversary within. On the one hand, he is the enemy trying to defeat God; on the other hand, he is the adversary within God’s realm seeking to cause damage. As the adversary, Satan opposes God from within God’s realm, God’s kingdom. This is the reason the Bible clearly indicates that even today Satan has access to the place of God’s throne. In the book of Job we see that Satan can stand before the throne of God and accuse people before Him.
Although the battle raging in the universe is between God and Satan, another party is involved. This third party consists of God’s chosen and redeemed people, the ones who will actually decide the outcome of the battle. If we take sides with Satan, God will lose, even though He is almighty. As the infinite, all-powerful Creator, God will not lower Himself to fight against one of His creatures. Thus, it is necessary for another of God’s creatures—man—to fight against Satan. In a very real sense, God needs us. Without us, He would not have a way to carry on the battle against Satan. He must maintain His status as the Creator. For this reason, He needs us to carry on the actual work of warfare.
In order to fight on God’s side against Satan, we need to persevere in prayer. This perseverance is needed because the course of the whole world is away from God. To pray is to go against the current, the trend, in the fallen universe. Persevering in prayer is like rowing a boat upstream. If you do not persevere, you will be carried downstream by the current.
A Vow Concerning Our Prayer Life
There is great resistance to praying. Before you try to persevere in prayer, you should first make a deal with the Lord concerning your prayer life. Pray to Him in a definite way and say, “Lord, I mean business with You about this matter of prayer. I call heaven and earth to witness that from this time forth I will have a life of prayer. I will not be a prayerless person. Rather, I will be a praying person.” If you do not have such a prayer to the Lord, you will not be able to persevere in prayer. We need to say to Him, “Lord, I am desperate about this. I offer myself to You so that I may have a prayer life. Lord, keep me in the spirit of prayer. If I forget this or neglect this, I know that You will not forget it. Remind me again and again about prayer.” This kind of prayer may be regarded as a vow made to the Lord. We all need to make a vow to Him concerning our prayer life. We should tell the Lord, “Lord, I know that if I forget this vow, You will not forget it. From the very beginning, Lord, I want to clearly hand the responsibility over to You. Lord, don’t let me go. Remind me to pray.”
Setting Aside Definite Times
After we make such a deal with the Lord concerning prayer, we should set aside definite times for prayer. Our attitude should be that prayer is our most important business and that nothing should be allowed to interfere with it. If we do not have this attitude, we shall not be able to have a successful prayer life. No matter how many things we have to do each day, we can reserve at least a few minutes here and there for prayer.
The time you have dedicated to the Lord for prayer should be used only for prayer, not for anything else. Regarding this, you need to be strong and persevering. The battle over prayer is continual. Probably it will last until eternity. Because it is a battle, a fight, we must persevere in it.
The Benefits of Prayer
Persevering in prayer has many benefits. When we set our mind on the things above during our times of prayer, we become a reflection of Christ’s ministry in the heavens. When we pray, we are a heavenly ambassador on earth with the extension of God’s kingdom. However, when we are gossiping, we are not a heavenly ambassador at all. Only when we pray do we become an ambassador of the heavenly kingdom on earth in a practical way.
Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for timely help.” Prayer is the way to come forward to the throne of grace. Coming forward to the throne of grace, we receive mercy and grace to meet our timely need. Christians today are weak because their spiritual batteries are not charged. Because they are short of prayer, they are short of the heavenly transmission. Again and again during the day, we need to be charged with the divine electrical current.
Another benefit of praying is related to fellowship with the Lord. When we pray, we enter into fellowship with the Lord and become conscious of the fact that we are truly one spirit with Him and that He is actually one spirit with us.
Watching with Thanksgiving
Prayer is maintained by watching in it with thanksgiving. In 4:2 Paul says, “Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.” We watch in prayer by the giving of thanks. All day long we need to thank God. We need to be those who continually offer thanks to Him. (Life-study of Colossians, msg. 65)
