Tues., 4/3/18 Devotion (Col. 4:2)

Today's encouragement comes from Colossians 4:2, where we read these words:

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving . . . "

Prayer is a strange phenomenon. God does not need it; but we do. And why? Because it keeps us *consciously* "connected" to the Lord. Without it, we would grow complacent, self-sufficient, and dull. With it, we stay in vital rela-tionship with our God—through our living union with our Lord Jesus Christ.

These things we know about prayer: it is always to be made to God only, through the Name and sacrifice of Christ; it is to be an honest expression of our hearts; and it is to be a means of demonstrating gratitude to the Lord for all He has done for us. Let us not ever give up praying. To do so is to give up on our faith.

[Puritan quote of the day: "The heroic deeds of those great [Biblical] worthies [heroes] do not comfort so much as their falls and bruises do.” —Richard Sib-bes, in, "The Bruised Reed"]