My grandparents kept a police scanner in their kitchen when I was growing up. My Dad was a police officer, and during his shifts, they’d turn on the scanner and listen to dispatch. (If you have a loved one who is a first responder, I hope you’ll avoid this insane habit. It’s a terrible idea for several reasons, but there was no telling my grandparents that). Anyhow, they listened to that scanner most days of the week. As a result, they knew which blocks had the highest crime activity and the ins and outs of specific neighborhoods. When dispatch summonsed first responders to 107 Union Street, they knew that it probably wasn’t a life or death emergency but that Mr. Wells had fallen again and his wife needed help picking him up. My grandparents knew which officers were the quickest to the scene of accidents, who wrote the most DUIs, who got injured on duty, and when my Dad took a thirty-minute dinner break. My grandparents knew things that few others did because they faithfully listened to that crazy scanner.
Spiritually speaking, prayer does a similar thing. Keep in mind that no metaphor is perfect, (and this one isn’t either) but in the same way that my grandparents were dialed into the frequency of their local police department, prayer dials us into a spiritual frequency that alerts us to things we wouldn’t otherwise know about God and how He is working in the world. Keep in mind, that God invites us into this kind of relationship. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.” It is God’s will for our prayer lives to be a two-way form of communication. But this type of prayer life doesn’t come without conditions, and it doesn’t happen by accident. Paul wrote, “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart” (Col. 4:2). Notice three things Paul identified as necessary:
- Devotion. Notice how Paul said, “Devote yourself to prayer.” The idea of devoting ourselves to something demands a commitment. When we “devote ourselves to prayer,” it means we show up and pray even on the days we don’t feel like it—perhaps, especially, on the days we don’t feel like it. And it means continuing in prayer even when we see no visible results. Devotion to prayer demands the commitment that an Olympic athlete gives to his sport or a world-class musician gives to her instrument. It calls for a “whatever it takes” kind of attitude that perseveres regardless of the obstacles.
- An Alert Mind. It’s no secret that many of us are habitually distracted and some of us are embracing a lifestyle of distraction. But time and again, the New Testament warns us to “stay alert.” God often communicates in subtle ways, and the Holy Spirit has been known to speak in a whisper. Discerning spiritual truths demand that we pay attention. In other words, we pray and watch the world with our eyes wide open.
- A Thankful Heart. As we pray and watch, it’s easy to get discouraged when things aren’t moving along as quickly as we’d like. So Paul instructs us to maintain “a thankful heart.” Cultivating a thankful heart means constantly being on the lookout for things that are going right and taking note. You might even want to keep a list. Doing so is beneficial for at least two reasons. First, God is worthy of our gratitude, and it’s appropriate that we thank Him. Secondly, maintaining a grateful heart shifts our eyes to what we have rather than focusing on what we lack. When we are reminded of the ways God is blessing us, it stirs our faith that He will continue.
- Do you lack any of Paul’s three elements of prayer? (devotion, an alert mind, thankful heart). If so, which ones? What steps can you take to improve your prayer life?
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