Devote yourselves to prayer

Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬-‭3 - The farewell letter from Paul to the church of Colossae offers thoughts on making prayer a continual habit.

The apostle Paul envisioning the Colossians praying and worshipping God with joy. Image generated by ChatGPT (OpenAI) using the DALL·E model.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Epistle of Paul to the Colossians is not one of the more well-known epistles. It was written by Paul and Timothy to the church in Colossae, a small city near some other cities in what is now Türkiye — Laodecia and Ephesus. These verses are from the closing chapter of the epistle, of which about the final two-thirds is simply greetings from Paul to friends in Colossae.

The first part is “further instructions” for the church members as Paul prepares to sign off. His instructions are simple, but timeless.

It begins by reminding the Colossians to “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful”. The ancient Greek for this verse actually places prayer first in the sentence, as in “to prayer, devote yourselves”. In Koine Greek, προσευχή (proseuchē) is a noun meaning “a prayer addressed to God” but also having the connotation of “a place set apart for the offering of prayer” — a synagogue or church. Paul seems to be advisin the church members to devote themselves to both prayer and the church, knowing that it would be helpful for the believers to seek community with other like-minded Christians and to also pray for others in the church.

The second part of verse 2 advises the reader to “be watchful and thankful”. A word study is instructive here as well — the Koine Greek word used is γρηγορέω (grēgoreō), meaning “to be cautious” or (I like this one better) “to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one.” This is so infused with meaning, saying that it is quite easy to fall away from the practice of constant prayer or shirk worshipping God because you’re just too tired.

How about “thankful”? The Greek for this is εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), meaning “gratitude” or “grateful language to God”. Paul and Timothy are encouraging active devotion to the church life of the Colossians — both in prayer and group worship — and reminding them to also be active in both their personal attitude toward church and thanking God for their blessings.

Paul goes on to ask the church for prayers for himself and Timothy as well. It’s almost as if he was reminded that he was asking them to pray, and thought it would be a good idea for the Colossians to pray that “God may open a door for our message”. Even though Paul goes on to mention that he is “in chains” for spreading the Gospel, he is not about to stop seeking evangelistic opportunities while imprisoned in Rome.

Captured in these two verses is a good lesson, and that lesson is that we should be in a continual attitude of prayer. That doesn’t mean we need to be on our knees 24/7/365, but rather be prayerful more often than not! This wonderful quote is from a John Piper sermon on Desiring God titled “Devote Yourselves to Prayer”:

"prayer is not some small thing. It is not some marginal thing. It is not some incidental thing in the Christian life. Prayer is at the heart of why God created the universe. You may have the modern, secular notion that the universe is really about great galactic events and supernovas and remarkable expanses of time and space and energy. But in reality the center of the created universe is man created in the image of God. And the meaning of man in the image of God is to display God's glory. And the way God delights to display His glory in man is by being depended on through prayer.”¹

From Precept Austin is this exposition on prayer with regards to Colossians 4:3, where the Koine Greek word προσεύχομαι (proseuchomai) is used and translated as “pray”:

Proseuchomai is in the present tense calling for continual activity. Make habitual prayer your "lifestyle". The middle voice indicates you initiate the prayer but that you yourself participate in the process.

Prayer involves a persevering will, an alert mind, and a grateful heart; and our requests should be specific and related to the ministry of the Word.

Paul asked not for an open prison door but for an open door of ministry.

The key to Colossians 4:2-3 is to realize that as Christians, we should always have a persistent commitment to prayer, not only for ourselves, but interceding on behalf of others as well and always with the thought of spreading the Gospel. How is your prayer life going?

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Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:

Dear God, thank You for Your overflowing gift of grace and mercy to us. Thank You for giving us the right to petition you continually for our own needs and on behalf of others. May we increasingly devote our lives to You in prayer, in praise, and in grateful thanks, and we ask for Your help in encountering more opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus with others. AMEN.

Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.

"Colossians 4 (NIV) - Devote yourselves to prayer, being." Blue Letter Bible. Web. 13 Aug, 2025.

Precept Austin was accessed on August 13, 2025 for commentary on Colossians 4:2-3

1. By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org