Sermon: The Discipline of Prayer

Sermon preached on Villa Morra Baptist Church on August 22, 2004, 19.00 (Regular church evening service)

Text:

(2) Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (3) At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison– (4) that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
(Colossians 4:2-4, ESV)

Introduction: There are a lot of messages and studies on prayer, but what about a down-to-earth, practical advice? Paul gives this kind of advice in this brief text on his Letter to the Colossians.

  1. Prayer is a habit, v.2
    1. Requires steadfastness, perseverance, commitment.
    2. Requires being watchful, i.e., with full dedication.
    3. Requires an attitude of thankfulness.
  2. Intercession should not be missing from prayer, v. 3
    1. Intercession –praying for— is the door to God’s power.
    2. Intercession should be always linked to the proclamation of the mystery of Christ.
    3. Remember that you should always intercede for your pastors and spiritual leaders.
  3. Prayer is always practical, vss. 3 and 4
    1. Prayer is always concerned with practical matters.
    2. It should always refer to our daily lives.
    3. It should always give us orientation for our living.

Conclusion: It is not easy to develop a prayer life. But prayer is the oxygen of the body of Christ. Let us pray that we might show Christ’s victory to this troubled world by our life of prayer.

7 Comments

  1. If I waited for those moments when I actually felt like praying or worshipping, I’d often be out of sync with the reality of my day to day life. That I don’t always wake up feeling married does not remove my spouse. Just so, prayer is indeed a discipline.

  2. Eduardo- did you take these notes or preach this yourself? Very well done. Thanks for posting words of encouragement and edification 🙂

  3. Rae: That’s the outline of a sermon I preached as stated in the post. That is, I thought I could post the notes here as well for a wider audience. I have a lot of sermon notes I preached, and some of these are, well, simply on the odd piece of paper here and there, and thus it is difficult to file properly. But the blogsphere provided me with a nice way to do it 🙂

    Ed: Thanks, fellow namesake. That’s exactly how I feel. It is funny to see my wife asking me sometimes, “why is that you seem to take marriage so naturally? I know you very well (and she does!) and I know that being married is not exactly something easy for you; then, why? And I just tell her, “because I made up my mind –literally”. That’s, in other words, discipline.

  4. I couldn’t tell if “sermon preached” meant you preaching or someone whom you didn’t preaching. I take sermon notes each Sunday, and also in Sunday school. I usually write the date, the place, and the pastor’s name. I have been doing this for several years and have found it very beneficial in not only retention, but in referencing really good thoughts that I want to share or revisit.

  5. Good grief! “Someone whom you didn’t know was preaching.”
    (eyes rolling at self). I must need more coffee!

  6. Hi Rae. Yes, you’re right. Sorry for being so unspecific. You gave me a good idea about how to timestamp my sermons! Thanks for your encouragement and patience :P.

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