Colossians 4.2-The Colossians Must Continue to Be Dedicated to Persevering in Vigilant Prayer with Thanksgiving
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday February 5, 2017
Colossians: Colossians 4:2-The Colossians Must Continue to Be Dedicated to Persevering in Vigilant Prayer with Thanksgiving
Lesson # 104
Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. (NASB95)
“Devote yourselves to prayer” is composed of the following: (1) noun proseuchē (προσευχή), “prayer” (2) verb proskartereō (προσκαρτερέω), “devote yourselves to.”
The verb proskartereō means “to persevere in being dedicated to some activity despite difficulty” expressing the idea of each member of the Colossian Christian community being dedicated to persevering in prayer implying solemn and exclusive devotion to prayer in the face of stiff opposition.
The second person plural form of the verb proskartereō refers to the entire Colossian Christian community as a corporate unit and it is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
The present imperative form of the verb proskartereō is a customary present imperative which has the idea that each member of the Colossian Christian community must continue to make it their habit of being dedicated to persevering in prayer.
The noun proseuchē literally means a “face to face audience with deity in order to worship them, to prayer reverentially to a deity” and refers to prayer in the general sense of speaking face to face or in the presence of the Father to worship and adore Him.
“Keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving” is composed of the following: (1) verb grēgoreō (γρηγορέω), “keeping alert” (2) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (3) intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “it” (4) preposition en (ἐν), “with” (5) noun eucharistia (εὐχαριστία), “thanksgiving.”
The verb grēgoreō means “to keep alert, to be vigilant, to be in a constant state of readiness” in a particular activity.
Here the idea is that of the Colossians keeping alert or vigilant in prayer in the sense of staying in fellowship with God in order to follow the Spirit’s guidance and direction in praying according to the will of the Father.
The verb grēgoreō functions as a temporal participle which would indicate that “while” the Colossians continue to make it their habit of being dedicated to persevering in prayer, they were to keep vigilant in it with an attitude of gratitude.
In Colossians 4:2, the noun eucharistia means “gratitude, thanksgiving” since it pertains to expressing gratitude for benefits or blessings.
The noun eucharistia is the object of the preposition en which means “with” since the word functions as a marker of manner which means that the noun eucharistia denotes the manner in which the action of the verb grēgoreō is accomplished and is expressing how the Colossians were to continue being vigilant in prayer.
Colossians 4:2 Each of you must continue to make it your habit of being dedicated to persevering in prayer while at the same time continuing to exist in a state of being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. (My translation)
Here in Colossians 4:2, Paul issues the Colossian Christian community two more commands.
One is explicit and the other is implicit.
The first required that each of them continue making it their habit of being dedicated to persevering in prayer.
Thus, this command mentions one of the characteristics of an effective and productive prayer life, namely, perseverance (Matt. 7:7; 26:39-44; Luke 11:9-10; 18:1-8; 21:36; Rom. 12:12; 15:30; Acts 1:14; 6:4; 12:5; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 5:5; 2 Tim. 1:3; Col. 1:9; 4:2, 12; Heb. 10:22).
Perseverance is produced by the Holy Spirit in the believer when the latter remains faithful to the Lord by being obedient to His Word despite the obstacles in life such as the old sin nature, self, the cosmic system of Satan.
It refers to bearing up under intense pressure and not quitting on God depicting the Christian as enduring undeserved suffering on behalf of the communication of the gospel.
It speaks of staying disciplined and subjecting oneself to the will of God regardless of the consequences for doing so.
Perseverance expresses the idea of not permitting adverse circumstances to get one to surrender or quit on the plan of God and is the result of a triumphant confident expectation of reward and blessing in the midst of adversity for remaining faithful.
It speaks of the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that one faces in life accepting the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement and spiritual growth.
Thus, Paul wants these faithful believers in Colossae to be dedicated in persevering in the practice of prayer, both corporate and individual.
This first command also mentions another essential characteristic of an effective and productive prayer life, namely, worshiping the Father since the noun proseuchē, “prayer” found in this command literally means a “face to face audience with deity in order to worship them, to prayer reverentially to a deity.”
Here, the word refers to prayer in the general sense of speaking face to face or in the presence of the Father to worship and adore Him.
The second command in Colossians 4:2 is implicit since it is couched in a temporal participle clause which instructs the Colossians as to what they must continue doing while obeying the first explicit command and requires that they continue existing in the state of being vigilant while in prayer.
Thus, the apostle wants them to continue existing in the state of being vigilant in prayer while obeying the command to continue making it their habit of being dedicated to persevering in prayer.
If you recall, the Lord Jesus Christ requested in the Garden of Gethsemane that Peter, James and John would remain vigilant with Him in prayer (Luke 21:34-36; Mark 13:32-37).
However, they failed to do so.
When Paul speaks of vigilance in prayer, he basically is telling them to make it their habit of remaining in fellowship with God.
The purpose of which is to follow the Spirit’s guidance and direction in praying according to the will of the Father.
This vigilance would first involve confession of sin to be restored to fellowship with God.
It would also involve obeying the Spirit’s voice as He speaks to them through the communication of the Word of God in order to maintain that fellowship with God.
Specifically, in light of what Paul has taught in this epistle it would involve appropriating by faith their identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
This will result in the Colossians praying according to the Father’s will.
Lastly, Paul presents the manner in which they were to obey this second command, namely they were to do so with thanksgiving.
This is the sixth time in this epistle that Paul has mentioned thanksgiving in prayer (cf. 1:3, 12; 2:7; 3:15, 17).
Again, Paul does not enumerate what the Colossians must give thanks to the Father for.
However, this epistle and a comparison of other New Testament passages related to the church indicate that they were to give thanks to the Father for delivering them from eternal condemnation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
For those who were Jewish, they were also delivered from condemnation from the Mosaic Law.
Both Jew and Gentile church age believers have been delivered from the indwelling Adamic sin nature and have received the forgiveness of all their sins-past, present and future.
They have also been delivered from spiritual and physical death.
They have been delivered from Satan’s power.
They were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
They are also permanently indwelt not only by the Lord Jesus Christ but also the Father and the Son.
They were also placed in union with Jesus Christ and identified with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father at the moment of justification through the baptism of the Spirit.
They have been elected to privilege and predestinated to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
They have been sanctified.
They have access to the Father in prayer twenty-four seven because of their union and identification with Christ and His death on the cross on their behalf.
They will experience the millennial reign of Jesus Christ as well as the new heavens and the new earth.
For those who were faithful in life, they will be rewarded.
These are some of the reasons why the Colossians and all Christians today should offer up thanks to the Father.
One of the characteristics of a productive prayer life is that of thankfulness (Matt 15:36; 26:27; Mark 8:6; 14:23; Luke 22:17-19; John 6:11; 23; 11:41; Acts 27:35; 28:15; Rom. 1:8; 7:25; 1 Cor. 1:4; 11:24; Eph. 5:20; Col. 1:12; 3:17; Phlp. 1:3-4; 4:6; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13).
Paul’s statements in Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5 make clear that they were already obeying these two commands in Colossians 4:2 since these verses affirm their faithfulness to Paul’s gospel.
