“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains” (Colossians 4:2-3). Here, the apostle Paul said to pray, but not just once. Pray continually and earnestly.

What is your prayer life like? I’m guessing most of us would say, “That’s one area of my life that needs improvement.” Many of us treat prayer like the oxygen mask above our seat in an airplane. We know it’s there and use it only if there’s an emergency.

But prayer isn’t just for emergencies. In reality, we should pray without ceasing on every occasion (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17). It should be as natural to us as breathing.

Jesus taught that we should always pray and not lose heart. And then He gave an illustration of an unjust judge who finally gave in to the case of a persistent, unrelenting widow (see Luke 18:1-8). He drew a negative comparison. If an unjust and unrighteous judge can do that, how much more will your Father in heaven, whom you depend on?

For every little thing that comes into your life, there should be a prayer that goes up, a continual conversation with God throughout the day. But notice the phrase “with thanksgiving.”

In Colossians 3:17, Paul said, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” In Paul’s writings, this idea of thanksgiving appears 32 times. He places much emphasis on being a thankful person.

If you’re a negative person by nature, I guarantee you that if you started a journal of the things you're thankful for and added a few things to it every day, you would become a positive person.

Now, Paul didn’t just say, “Be thankful.” He lived out his thankfulness. For example, in Acts 27, he was on a long voyage to Rome, and the boat was about to go down. He told the men aboard that God had shown him they would all survive. And he broke bread and gave thanks to God, in the middle of the storm, for the provision and the promise. He was thankful in the worst of situations.

So, when Paul was in prison and asked for prayer, did he mean, “Pray that I get released”? Maybe. But the doors opened to Paul were the chance to share his faith with all who came to visit him, including non-believing Jewish leaders and the guards he was chained to, and the opportunity to write four New Testament letters. Prison was not the end of his ministry. It was just a change in his ministry.

So, if you feel like life is narrowing, you aren’t able to do what you used to do because of a disease or a family situation, if you feel confined to one place, maybe a hospital room or at home, it's not an end to your effectiveness. It's just a change in it.

God answered Paul’s prayer and the prayers of the first century believers—He would open doors. He arranged the imprisonment of Paul to reach His gospel even into the household of Caesar, and He gave us incredible scriptures that have been read all over the world for 2,000 years.

So God will answer your prayers, even in your worst situations. Continue earnestly in prayer. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).