Simple Prayer Instructions

Have you ever attempted to do something without the instructions?

The other day I decided to bake a favorite recipe for baked oatmeal, one that I’ve created many times. I glanced at the directions to make sure I had all the ingredients and reviewed the baking procedure. The oven temperature was set, the ingredients mixed and poured into the baking dish. Simple enough.

With one final glance at the recipe, I realized I skipped an important instruction. I neglected to grease the dish.

Instead of putting it in the oven, I scooped the batter back into the mixing bowl, greased the dish, and once again poured it back in the properly prepared baking dish.

This wasn’t a huge deal, but neglecting the simple instruction caused extra steps for me.

In the busyness of our lives, we can overlook basic prayer instruction, which can create extra steps or frustration in our lives.

We make prayer harder than it needs to be.

Colossians 4:2 offers simple prayer guidance.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

These three simple prayer instructions can guide us every day.

• Be devoted to prayer. The word devoted means “to persist at” or “to remain with.” Pray continually with persistence. Often when we don’t see the answers we want, we get discouraged and give up. However, we are instructed to keep praying, no matter what.

• Be watchful, with an awareness of what is happening around us. Watchful prayer can happen anywhere, like praying for emergency vehicles as the sirens blare or praying for someone in distress we pass on the street. We remember to pray for our cities and country during this year of elections and pandemic uncertainty.

• Be thankful. A thankful spirit reminds us of the blessings in our lives. It is good to pause and remember all that God has done for us.

The prayer instructions in the Bible are straightforward.

When we neglect the directions, we can lose the peace the God.

Instructions are necessary.

Like the old adage says, “When all else fails, read the directions!”