Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Parallel translations
- WEB Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
- BSB Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,
- 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 careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
- Eph 6:18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
- Rom 12:12Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
- Matt 26:41Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
- Luke 18:1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
- Luke 21:36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
- 1 Pet 4:7But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
- Ps 55:16–17As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
- Ps 109:4For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
- Col 1:9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
- Mark 13:33Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
- Col 2:7Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
- Col 3:17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
- 1 Sam 12:23Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
- Col 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
- Col 3:15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
- Job 27:8–10For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
- Job 15:4Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
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Original language
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