Devoted to Prayer

Hi friends,

Our church is currently in a middle of a study on prayer, and a couple of weeks ago the vicar preached from this verse in Colossians 4, where Paul instructs the church to be devoted to prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. This really resonated with me and was very convicting, because if I'm honest, I wouldn't say I am devoted to prayer. I am very much aware of my need to grow in this vital area of my walk with God, and frequently feel like I'm not praying enough.

Something about the word 'devote' got my attention, so I looked up the meaning of the Greek word used in this text, and it means to 'continue steadfastly' - it is even used to describe the attention paid by a slave to their master in another text. The idea of being so attentive to, so devoted to prayer that we continue in it steadfastly is something I fall way short of, but want to move and grow toward. One of the ways I am committing to growing in prayer is by using Bible journaling to help me pray. To that end, I decided to start a new journaling Bible just for prayer. I had this Interleaved Bible that I had bought over a year ago on sale that I hadn't used yet, so I decided to break it open and begin with this verse. My plan in this Bible is to journal scriptures about prayer, but also to use other Scriptures as prompts for my own prayers, so I pray to the Lord on the basis of his Word. I'm hoping that this will help me to become more devoted to prayer, as this verse in Colossians 4 instructs us to be.

This verse also highlights two important accompanying attitudes to prayer: watchfulness and thankfulness. When we pray, we are to watch for God to move, look for where is moving and leading already, but also to watch out for distractions and temptations that would try to lead us away from a posture of prayer. When we accompany this with thanksgiving for what God has already done for us, then we cultivate a heart that is receptive to the ways in which God chooses to answer our prayers in our everyday life. 

I used my Gel Plate to create a background for this page with acrylic paints, then stamped the roses from Rose Banner over the top, colouring them with Derwent Lightfast pencils. The text was stamped with a combination of Prayer Time, Old Fashioned Alpha, All of Me Alpha, Mini Grunge Type Alpha and Playful Alpha. I created some shading around the edge of the page with gelatos and added some butterflies (also from Rose Banner) stamped and coloured on watercolour paper to finish. 

I pray that we would grow in our devotion to prayer, and that God would help us by his Spirit to be both watchful and thankful as we pray.

Be blessed...

x Amy x