Colossians 4: 2 reads: " Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving...." These two words go together: Pray and watch. They are very important. They remind us of the experience of Nehemiah. When the enemy tried to stop him from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he didn’t just throw in the towel and cry out that he couldn’t do the job. Nor did he simply say, “Well, we’ll make it a matter of prayer,” and then go on as he had been. No, this is what Nehemiah said: “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them”. This is what Paul tells us here: Watch and pray. An old pastor in Georgia used to make this statement: “When a farmer prays for a corn crop, God expects him to say ‘Amen’ with a hoe.” If you are praying about a certain matter, get busy with it. I remember a line from one of my favorite movies, "Facing the Giants." If you've seen the movie "Facing the Giants" you may remember the scene where the Coach is speaking to the older man Mr. Bridges that prays over the kid's lockers every day. Mr. Bridges feels led to come into Coach Taylor's office and tell him that he needs to bloom where the Lord Plants him and he also tells him a story about two farmers who desperately needed rain for their crops to grow. Although both farmers prayed for rain, only one of them went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Mr. Bridges asks, "Which one trusted God to send the rain?" The Coach responds, "The one who prepared," "God will send the rain when He's ready. You need to prepare your fields to receive it," says Mr. Bridges. We need to pray, watch, and then work. And, we are to do so with Thanksgiving.
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