[Darris McNeely] You know, how you go into your house and sometimes you might flip a switch on, and there's no light or you go into the bathroom, and you turn the faucet, and there's no water. When things in the house go wrong, when there's no water coming out, when there's no light, for whatever reason, things are not working, something's broken down somewhere and we have to find out, we have to fix it, perhaps our end or on the utility service end, the job hasn't been kept up, and things go wrong. That happens in a house.

You know, it also represents what might happen from time to time in our own life, when things go wrong, when things begin to just pile up on us, and nothing seems to go right. The bad days turn into bad weeks and bad seasons. You know, when we don't stay diligent in our relationship with God, staying close to Him, particularly in prayer, that's when things go wrong.

In the book of Colossians 4:2, there's a statement made by the Apostle Paul that gives us a little bit of understanding about how to keep things going right for us, at least in our own life. He says, "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Now Paul says this verse after a lot of verses about doctrine, and teaching, and how to live, and how to keep our relationship up with God. But then he mentions, "Be vigilant, stay earnest in prayer with thanksgiving."

The word vigilant there is the word that actually is translated other places as to watch, to be on guard, to understand what's going on, not only in the world, but in our own life and to be vigilant.

You remember when Jesus took His disciples out in the garden, the night that He was arrested, and He left them for a short time and said, "I'm going over here to pray. Watch with me?" And He went, prayed, and came back. found they were all asleep. And He said to Peter, "Could you even watch with me for one hour?" It's the same word. They couldn't stay vigilant. They couldn't stay awake. We have to stay awake. We have to stay awake in our own life. And by doing so, in prayer, constantly before God, being alert, being aware of our own needs, of the needs of others, of what it takes to maintain that relationship with God. It's like maintaining that house. So the lights come on. So the water is flowing. It's the same way when it comes to our spiritual life.

We have to be watchful, keep things in a sense in order. And that's exactly what this is talking about here. As Paul says, to continue earnestly in prayer, to be vigilant, and to do it with thanksgiving, to lead an orderly, holy life. It's all-important, not only in keeping up A house but keeping up the spiritual temple that we are with God's Spirit working in us through prayer.

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