Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,
Parallel translations
- WEB Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
- KJV Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
- NKJV Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
- NASB Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
- NLT Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers are to persist in prayer, staying alert and thankful as they pray. It matters because steadfast, watchful, grateful prayer is essential to the Christian life.
Overview
Paul opens his closing exhortations with a call to devoted, persevering prayer. 'Watching' implies spiritual alertness, perhaps echoing Jesus' charge to watch and pray, while thanksgiving keeps prayer rooted in gratitude rather than mere petition. This pattern of constant, watchful, thankful prayer marks a heart depending on God through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 1 Th 5:17–18Pray without ceasing.
- Phil 4:6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Eph 6:18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
- Rom 12:12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.
- Matt 26:41“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
- Luke 18:1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
- Luke 21:36So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- 1 Pet 4:7The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
- Ps 55:16–17But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
- Ps 109:4In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
- Col 1:9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
- Mark 13:33Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.
- Col 2:7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
- Col 3:17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
- 1 Sam 12:23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
- Col 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.
- Col 3:15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.
- Job 27:8–10For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Job 15:4But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.
How Colossians 4:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.