Moving forward by prayer

I shared with you last post about reading back through my journal for 2010.  My journal entries are basically little conversations with God - about my struggles, the things I'm learning, my prayers.  And one of the cool things about looking back over a year is to see how many prayers God has answered!  Seeing that encourages me to do more praying instead of more struggling : ).

These last few weeks it seems there have been so many dear friends in my life who have needed prayer.  I've shared this verse with some of them - now I want to share it with you.  God drew my attention to chapter 4 in Colossians as I was praying earlier this week.  And here's what verse 2 says:

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." 

The word "watchful" caught my attention.  Why do I need to be watchful when I pray?  There are lots of times in a day when I'm watching for something.  I watch for Marty to get home from work.  I watch for a certain package to arrive in the mail.  I watch for "my" birds to show up at the feeder for breakfast each morning.  My watching is connected to expectation - I'm expecting all of the above to happen.  So I might be happy when they occur, but I'm not shocked or surprised.

Tada!  That's what God wants my prayer life to be like : ).  Expectant.  Watchful.  First I ask - and then I watch - because God promised to be listening and He promised to act.  So I better be paying attention!  He is sure to answer, but I might miss the joy of the answer if I'm not alert. 

And then there's the thankful part.  I don't think I'm supposed to wait until God has answered the way I want so I can thank Him.  I think it brings Him joy when I'm thankful right up front.  That demonstrates my faith in His faithfulness, my belief that His perfect love will accomplish what's best for me. 

So I hope I can move forward this year in prayer with a gratefully expectant heart.  What about you?  What are you watching for : )?