Devotion to Prayer

Scripture:
"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving." Colossians 2:2

Observation:
I have gone through a few studies on prayer, read many things written on prayer and I here is what I have discovered; prayer can be messy. It is confusing. It is awkward. It is illogical. It is abused and often it is found to be full of hypocrisy.

I have tried many different things. Eyes open. Eyes shut. Standing. Sitting. Kneeling. Walking. And those are just the physical experiments. In addition to those, I have tried countless different approaches to what I say and how I say it.

As I sit here this morning staring at this verse I am searching my heart for what God has for me in it. In this verse I see three keys to an effective prayer life; devotion, alertness, and thanksgiving.

Application:
Devotion requires me to make a conscious choice to pray regardless of how I feel. That means that I should have a serious intention towards prayer at all times. I am not so sure that I can say that of myself. I am more of a reactive prayer. When trouble strikes, I pray. When I know that I need to do it, I pray. When I feel like something is missing, I pray. When I am in a group and they ask me to, I pray. In 90% of the situations I find myself praying, I am praying in reaction to something. I do not approach each day with a serious intention of praying through the entire day and if I do not feel like it or if there is not a compelling reason to do it; I can go an entire day without praying once.

Devotion also requires me to not become weary in prayer. Sometimes I feel the same towards prayer as I feel about a long drive. I just want to get to where I want to go without enduring the long path that is required to get me there. Prayer is a labor at times. True devotion to something means that I do not become impatient or dissatisfied in the work required. I need to stop acting like a spoiled child sitting in the back seat relentlessly asking if we are there yet. I need to learn to enjoy the ride.

Devotion requires me to be unwavering and absolute in my resolve to pursue prayer. I feel like this is missing from my prayer life. I am not firm in my choice to pray. My resolve to stick with it is determined by what is taking place in my life and how long it takes before God responds. If I have to pray through a situation for more than a few days I lose my resolve and become frustrated. I am also full of uncertainty with regards to the effectiveness of my prayer. Most of the time I am more mindful of what I say than am I focused on the power of it.

Prayer:
Prayer is the primary method of communication between You and I. There are so many things that hinder my prayer life. I can honestly say that I am powerless to improve it. I have tried many things on my own to get better at it, but they have all failed me miserably. As I have meditated on this verse I have come to realize that there are only three things that I can control; my devotion to it, my alertness in it, and my gratitude for it. Today I chose to move towards these things. I ask that You reveal Yourself to me in my prayer life. It is the primary way that you have chosen for me to connect with You and to connect You to others. I pray that You forgive my doubts, laziness, and frustration that I have towards prayer. Help me replace those things with devotion, intention, and thanksgiving.