The Impossible Made Normal

"Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving; ...." Colossians 4:2 NHEB

This seems to be a simple encouragement and on one hand it is. It carries the same idea as "Pray without ceasing" in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  The expectation from our God and Father is that we will always be talking with Him. 

 Some of our newer translations read "Be devoted to prayer," which has a bit different emphasis. I believe both are good and right. This translation says to continue steadfastly which gives us the idea of doing something faithfully. Being devoted to prayer adds the heart value in emphasis. I think both of these are included in the statement. 

In the Greek, the word for "continue steadfastly" means "to continue to do something with intense effort, with the possible implication of despite difficulty – 'to devote oneself to, to keep on, to persist in.'" Basically we see it is an instruction to never stop, never give up, regardless of what our circumstances - be devoted in our heart and lives to talking and sharing with our Lord. 

Prayer has come to mean many different things to us - it all depends on how we have been taught or not. I usually try to avoid the word, because it carries so much baggage that has nothing to do with true prayer. When we begin to understand what the Lord has done for us and enabled in us, visiting with Him takes on an entirely new and living aspect that may seem foreign at first, but in time we would not want to revert to our old "prayer ways" at all because of the fullness in Him. I wrote the following to my Intercessors yesterday. It is the way of freedom in continuing steadfastly in our relational dialogue in Him.

"If anyone loves me, he will keep my word,

and my Father will love him, and

we will come to him and make our home with him."

John 14:23 ESV

As we realize more and more the Lord's abiding presence within us, these scriptures warm our hearts and remind us that we are never alone. Our Lord lives in us and He and the Father have made their home in us through the Holy Spirit. Such a wonder was never thought of by any man. But our God, great and awesome in every way, had in mind living with and in us individually and collectively. So we have become in Him the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the house He has always wanted to live in. He created us to be able to  have Him at home in us. We are His home. Such a marvelous truth is just too good to be true.

When we begin to really embrace this truth, we will cease from our efforts "to get closer to God," for how can we possible be any closer. Instead, we will begin to bathe in our oneness with Him in Spirit and begin to relax at home in His person, power and constant presence. There is no loneliness here, nor emptiness, nor lack, nor need. So everything changes. Our perceptive ability of what is true and real changes for as we relax and trust Him to show us what is true, we begin to embrace truth that sets us free in every dimension. Such truths take this love in Jesus to new heights of release and reality. May we bask in these truths. His Word never lies. So as we receive, trust and release into it, we become a person of rich presence in Him. Oh yes! Let the relaxing embrace become our focus instead of the striving based attempts to reach Him. He is here, as I am typing this and as you are reading. He is with us - at home. Lord, teach us truth - over and over again!

So what seems like an impossible instruction, is really a warm and loving entreaty to keep talking, thinking, turning to, leaning on and receiving from - Him the one who loves us so.