“Focus…focus….focus!” Those are the words I heard a father telling his daughter the other day. I laughed when I heard it because I used to say that to my daughter. My daughter, Jessica Allie, is an artsy, creative, girly girl. She loves everything about the arts: lines, circles, paint, canvas, music, lights, and dance. She is also a girl who at age six actually notices every shoe other women are wearing (I know, pray for me). As you can imagine, the combination of artsy and girly girl screams easily distracted.
Recently, I realized that I am easily distracted when it comes to prayer. That is why the message on Sunday convicted me so.
Paul encouraged the Christ-followers at Colossae to devote themselves to prayer. In other words, be intentionally focused on prayer, to give yourself to it.
Colossians 4:2-4 (NASB95)
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;
4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
In order to be devoted to prayer, we must understand what distracts us. For some it will be a trouble-free season in their life. Yes, a trouble-free life can become a distraction. For others it could be that a life of hardship is distracting. You see, I think it is possible to be so focused on our woes that we forget to give them to God in prayer. On the other hand, we can have no worries and forget to pray. For me I am distracted by busyness. I think that is why Luke 5:16 really speaks to me, "But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray."
What distracts you from being intentionally devoted to prayer? Is it one of the examples I have given or is it something else?
As my daughter grows I am noticing amazing focus in everything she does, whether it is in school or creating one of her beautiful drawings. So let us yield to Christ and resist the things which distract us so that we can give ourselves to prayer.
Your brother in Christ,
Will Dungee
