Sanctification - Day Eight

Yesterday I mentioned that true sanctification requires that we maintain a relationship with Jesus Christ, and how to go about remaining in communion with Christ.

There are a few more "requirements" of true sanctification.

We must devote ourselves to prayer and obey God's Word.

Easy enough, right?

Let's look at the first part: Prayer

Colossians 4:2 says this:

²Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

When you "devote yourself" to something, it means that you "continue steadfast" or "persevere," implying strong persistence and fervor, a holding fast to prayer.

Can you honestly say that you are "devoting yourselves to prayer?" This is a hard one, only because we so often feel that we can "go it alone." "Don't worry God, I've got this one. I know you're busy with the economy and hunger, so I'll just take the reigns here." This, my friend, is not what the Lord wants.

When Paul talks about "being watchful" what he means is that we need to be "spiritually awake or alert."

So, why is it so hard to pray? One reason is that Satan and the weakness of our human nature tries to cause us to neglect prayer itself, or allow us to become distracted while praying (um, convicted...).

We must discipline ourselves to achieve the prayer required for Christian victory!

Even Jesus knew how important prayer was. Not only did He model it for His disciples and all who saw Him while He was here with us, but He also taught His disciples how to pray. Look at Matthew 6:5-13. In the first few verses Jesus explains, step by step, what to do:

⁵"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

My Bible goes on to talk about what Secret Prayer is. It explains that we should have some place where we are praying alone. I can remember when I first was saved and heard people in church talking about a "Prayer Closet." I got nervous because I didn't really have a closet that could be used exclusively for prayer. When I asked my youth leader about this, he explained that a "Prayer Closet" for some is an actual closet, but for many, it's just a place where you can be all alone and pray.

There are specific times of the day that my Bible says we should pray in secret:
~In the morning to commit our day to God
~In the evening to give thanks for His mercies
~In times when the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray

Jesus then goes a step further and gives a model prayer of our we, as believers, should pray. We now know this prayer as The Lord's Prayer:

⁹"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
¹²Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Remember that prayer is a form of worship. Don't get so caught up in your needs and wants that you forget to praise your Heavenly Father.

Alright, next part: Obey God's Word

¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:17

Even when Jesus was pleading with God to "take this cup from him," He still prayer for His disciples. If you remember, "sanctify" means to make holy, to separate, or set apart. Jesus prays to God that his disciples will be a holy people that are separated from the world and sin so that they will be able to worship and serve God.

In order to be near God, to live for Him, and to be like Him, we must be set apart.

By obeying God's Word (the Bible), the truth is revealed to us by God's Holy Spirit.