Colossians Series - For This Reason We Pray

 For this Reason We Pray

Col. 1:3-14

I have read a number of books on prayer and I have learned the greatest way to pray is to pray through the scripture. Paul has given us a great model on why we pray, who we pray for, and how to pray according to God’s will. Paul in his letter to the Colossians, begins with an example of why he is praying for the believers in Colossae. Paul has patterned his life and communication with the believers through giving thanks to God first. 

In almost every letter, he begins with thanksgiving to God for all who believed the gospel, ”We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.” vv 3-6 

Jesus taught his disciples on the Mount of Beatitudes how to pray, and Paul follows the same teaching as well.

Paul truly is thankful to God the Father. It isn’t just about how God the Father had mercy and grace towards Paul, it is all about the Father’s faithfulness in working in the believers’ hearts and lives. The believers’ faith was not stagnant, it was growing, flourishing in love for one another and for all those who had believed the gospel. And not only that but, it springs from the hope store up for them in heaven. The promise of Christ’s coming, the blessed Hope of the church. As the Colossian church is growing in love, they are also growing in the true message of the Gospel.

Application - I had to ask myself a self-examining question, “Am I thanking God everyday for all the new believers and for that matter all believers that I know or have come to meet? I thank God alright, for His provision, protection, guidance for my life or my immediate family’s lives, but I know that is not enough. Months ago, I had written out verses to go with the prayer sheet we use to pray for the physical and societal needs of people who requested prayer. In those verses, one of the bulleted points was praying for new believers. New believers to grow in their faith, love, and knowledge of Jesus. “(I pray that) no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Rom.4:20-21 “ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” Eph. 1:18 These are the words of Paul for the church. I am sure that I am not alone in my aloofness, or complacency in thanking God daily for new believers and all believers. Like Paul we need now more than in any other time to thank God for and pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Use these verses and others that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind and heart as we lift up the body of Christ in these last days.

Paul’s next reason to pray was who to pray for, the believers around us and those that we read or hear about.

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. V. 7-8

Paul has been traveling throughout Asia-minor, preaching the gospel wherever the Holy Spirit leads him. And it is in this travel, that these letters are sent to edify (build up) and instruct these new churches. Paul has invested his life to the work of Christ among these people. And the church in Colossae is of great importance to him, but so are the other churches planted in cities throughout Asia-minor.

Paul knows that the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of all who have believed in Christ Jesus, and who are growing, and bearing fruit. They are growing in the understanding of God’s grace, the unmerited favor of God who has given to all who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. They know that they are not saved by their good works or righteous acts, but only by the grace of God through the redemptive act of Christ on the cross and the resurrection from the dead, three days later. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:4-5 

Paul also mentions his fellow servant for Christ, Epaphras, who was left in or assigned to help the believers in Colossae. Epaphras gives testimony to the love and growth of the church in the Holy Spirit. And it is here that Paul rejoices in the goodness and faithfulness of the believers as they give thanksgiving to God.

Application - I was saved in May of 1983, in Fairbanks, AK. Two years later, God called me to follow him to Northwest College to study His word and for the ministry. While at college, I attended and worked at two churches in the Lynnwood-Redmond Area. In 1989, I graduated and through the leading of the Holy Spirit, my family and I moved to Mabton, WA. For seventeen years I pastored and ministered in Mabton. Since leaving Mabton, I have been teaching in Sunnyside, Wa. I say all of this because I have met and have been discipled by godly men and women, I have been blessed to disciple and teach many others. Like Paul, I have fond memories of those who are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have lost contact with many of them, but I know that I can pray for their growth in Christ and the bearing fruit according to the Holy Spirit. 

God has given us this opportunity to pray for all those to whom we have known and have had the pleasure of being discipled or discipling, and doing life together in Christ. Today let the Holy Spirit lead you to pray for all the saints in your life.

Last Paul tells us how he prayed for the believers in Colossae. “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” vv.9-14

Paul believed in “praying through”, not stopping till he heard God had answered his prayer. He knew that these believers were going to need prayer support, edifying, and encouragement. He begins with continually asking God to fill them with the knowledge of His will. Remember Jesus’ teaching, “your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is done in Heaven.” Paul knows that in order for the church to grow, it can only be done through the knowledge of the will of God, and Paul continues exhorting with the need for all wisdom and understanding through the Holy Spirit. Every believer needed this, including Paul. The wisdom and understanding through the Spirit was given so that they could live lives worthy of the Lord and please him. In Romans 12, Paul gave another church a similar exhortation, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” vv. 1-2 Paul’s desire for the church is to live a holy and worthy life in Christ, doing His will would please God and would bring spiritual growth as well as numerical growth to the church. 

In this spiritual growth, Paul exhorts the church that in doing God’s will, they will be “bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”  Paul knew the church couldn’t stand against the enemy on its own strength. The strength of God’s Holy Spirit is the only way that the church in Colossae would grow and endure with patience the coming attacks of the enemy of God. Paul had warned the other churches about persecution from without and from within. It was only through knowledge of God’s Will, Word, and Wisdom, and power of the Holy Spirit that they would greatly endure these trials. 

And Paul again returned to giving thanks to God. He knew from his own life the importance of praise and thanksgiving. He was jailed, beaten, left for dead in some of these cities of Asia-minor, and the churches would inevitably experience similar trials. It was in praise and thanksgiving they understood that they were qualified to share in the inheritance of heaven, the kingdom of light.

Application - There is so much in the how to pray portion of this scripture. I see myself as well as the church of today, Christ’s body, in need of the knowledge of God’s will, wisdom, and Word. Paul’s admonition to us is “if we are going to please God, these are a ‘must do’”. We sing of the worthiness of Christ because of His work at Calvary, but God is looking for our worthiness. It is the giving of ourselves completely as a sacrifice daily to God. It is not about trying to earn points, it is all about pleasing Him in every way, and it can only be done through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The evidence of the sacrifice is in the bearing of fruit (Gal. 5:22-23,25) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

 Paul continues with growing in the knowledge of his Word. As a Christian, I don’t believe it is possible to grow without knowing the Word of God. I definitely know that you cannot stand firm in your faith without knowing the Word of God. When we see the people in our churches falling away, it could very well be that they are not feeding and growing on the Word of God. It is or has been a social thing not a spiritual thing. With the knowledge of God, it is the life led by the Holy Spirit’s power. God gave us His Spirit, to empower us with boldness to be witness to others of the workings of Christ in our hearts and lives. We can’t live a victorious life without the Holy Spirit. It comes back to what Jesus said to the disciples in John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” We need the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us, speak to us, empower us to do the work that Christ has called us to do. Then we will have the endurance to stand against deceit, schemes, and persecution because of our faith in Jesus Christ. Last, Let us give thanks to the Father for everything, at all times. I have spoken on this before, praise and worship are safeguards for your spiritual lives, when we lift up thanksgiving to God in songs, worship, or prayer, we are literally in the presence of Almighty God. And there is no better place to be as a child of God, who will one day stand in the Kingdom of Light, and behold Him  who loves us, cares for us, and is our life. Amen and Amen.

Again, please share this lesson with someone today. We do not know how much longer before Christ comes and takes His bride to be with him. Let these lessons from the Word of God guide you and speak to your life, and let the Holy Spirit who inspired the scripture, fill you with greater knowledge of God’s Will, Word, and Wisdom. Amen

Until next week,

In His Service, Mike Davis

PS. I have also posted other lessons on my blog, (pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com.) for your use and edification.