Did you know that in some religions people are only allowed to say set prayers? They can’t talk to the Lord like we do when we pray to God. We can tell God whatever is on our heart. And that’s what the Lord wants us to do. Think of all the prayers that are in the Psalms. The Old Testament believers prayed for many different things. And in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus tells us to pray for many things as well. It’s a beautiful thing that we can pray to God, talking to him about all the things in our lives.

In these verses, Paul tells us to “pray, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” When Paul talks about being watchful, he may very well be speaking about watching and waiting for the return of Christ. We know that Christ is going to come back again on the clouds of heaven. We don’t know when it will be, but we know with certainty that it will happen one day. So Paul tells us to thank God for something that is still going to come. We are to give thanks because the day of Christ’s return will be a wonderful day. It will mean the end of sin, the end of death, the end of tears, the end of arguments, the end of sickness. It will be a time of great joy. It will be the beginning of eternal life, when we will live forever with God. So thank God for allowing you to look forward to this great day.

Paul also tells the Colossians to pray for himself and for Timothy. They are mission workers. They are preaching the gospel to many people. And they need the prayers of the Colossians. They need to be able to speak clearly and make the gospel easy to understand for the people. And so they need the prayers of the believers.

Reflection with your child:

Do you remember to pray for Christ’s return? Do you remember to pray for missionaries? Can you name the missionaries that your church supports?

Source: Sermon by Dr. W. Bredenhof