The following is an excerpt from our daily devotional Fellowship With the Father, written by IFA contributing writer Remco Brommet.

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” Colossians 4:2

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With so much happening around us and the news headlines changing by the day it is easy to get lost in all the narratives, opinions, explanations, and reports that crowd the news outlets and the social media. That can leave you with a prayer conundrum: how do I pray intelligently about what I hear and see?

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Both Jesus and the Apostles admonished believers that they should be watchful, sober-minded and alert. For some personal Bible study this week I recommend meditating on a few of those admonitions. You’ll find them in Matthew 26:41, Mark 13:33, Luke 21:36, John 10:1-42, 2 Corinthians 2:11, Ephesians 6:11, Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 1 Peter 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8-10, Revelation 3:20 and Revelation 16:15. I encourage you to look them up and pray that God speaks to you through each passage.

They cover at least five aspects of watchfulness:

1. Watchfulness against the devil. The unrest in our nation and around the world today is clear evidence of a spiritual battle that is raging around the future of the church and our nation. And the distractions, doubts, and discouragement you are facing? Not flesh and blood either.
2. Temptation from within. Jesus especially warns us to not fall asleep or give in to weakness. Fill in the blanks for yourself.
3. Seeing the signs of the times and being able to navigate them. Study what the Word of God has to say about the End Times and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you in how that applies today and how you should live.
4. Recognizing and responding to the voice of God. Jesus foresaw and warned us that the sheep should know the voice of the Good Shepherd and distinguish it from that of the one who tries to come in to steal and kill. Every Christian has to develop his voice recognition skills in order to not be led astray.
5. Praying with pure motive and spiritual insight. We have to be watchful that we do not pray selfishly (James 4:3) but pray according to God’s will (1 John 5:14), and in partnership with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26).

God longs for watchful, thankful intercessors. He chooses to work through them to thwart the devil’s schemes. Being watchful and thankful not only ensures protection and a strong faith-walk for yourself, but it can also change the course of events for entire nations. That is the idea behind Isaiah 62:6: “On your walls, O Jerusalem (or America), I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.”

That’s you and me, not some professional prayer guy or “the spiritual people.” The Body of Christ, the people of God, the everyday Christians are the royal priesthood called to be the watchmen for such a time as this, and it is make or break time for us in terms of the future of our nation.

Today’s Prayer Assignment

Invest some time today and meditate on watchfulness and put it into practice. Do a self-check and confess and remove anything that keeps you from being watchful. Then drink deeply from the wisdom of the Word and listen to what the Holy Spirit whispers to your soul in terms of how you should pray – for yourself, your church, your city, your state, the nation and the advance of the gospel around the world.

And then pray. Steadfastly.

Download this entire series in a PDF format.

What did you think of this article? Share your own reflections and prayers in the comments.

Author Remco Brommet is a pastor, spiritual growth teacher, and prayer leader with over 40 years’ experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the US. Born and raised in the Netherlands and pastoring his first church in Amsterdam, he moved to the US in 1986. He and his wife Jennifer currently live north of Atlanta, GA When not writing books, he blogs and assists his wife as content developer and prayer coordinator for True Identity Ministries. Jennifer and Remco are passionate about bringing people into a deeper relationship with Christ. Photo Credit: zbindere/Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro.