From Colossians 1: 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant.He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabledyou to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
There is a cartoon strip that shows a man approaching another man and the first man's thought balloon shows him thinking, "Here comes someone I said I would be praying for, and I forgot! Lord, bless this man!" And in the second frame the "praying man" says, "I've been praying for you!" Sadly, we have been there. We are asked for prayer and we respond, Yes, I will pray, and then the stress and pressures of life come in and we forget.
This passage shows the dedication of Paul to truly engage in prayer for one another and how he encouraged others to join in the prayer ministry lifted up for those early believers. As he writes to the sisters and brothers of Colossae, he is sharing the joy he has felt in knowing that these prayers have been answered and the people at the church in Colossae have been faithful in "bearing fruit" for God's work among them. Can you imagine what would happen in your faith community if you prayed like Paul and Paul's friends?
Taking a closer look at what Paul is sharing about prayer we see the depth of caring and understanding he possessed about the needs of those for whom he was praying; He prayed that God grant them grace and peace. He offered up a prayer of thanksgiving for this other church (Compare to some churches today who seem to be in competition with each other!). He thanks God for the strong faith they have and because of that the hope that stored up in heaven. He is thankful that the gospel is bearing fruit among them and throughout the world. He is thankful for the work of Epaphras, who seemed to have been their pastor, and how Epaphras shared about their faith with Paul and others. Paul prays that God's wisdom and knowledge be theirs; that they live lives worthy of the Lord, seeking to please Him and bear even more fruit. He prays that more strength come to them so that whatever challenges or problems may come their way they can endure with patience. And above all for them to be a thankful people, giving God thanks for all things. And a reminder is shared about that which has come to them and us, redemption and the forgiveness of sin.
What will happen when we pray these things for our faith community and those other faith communities in our towns and cities? Why don't we find out?
PRAYER: As I pray today, dear God, I pray for my church and for what we have yet to do. Bless us to reach that which You have set before us to grow Your Kingdom. I pray for the other churches in our neighborhood and for churches and church leaders around the world. We've yet much to do, but with Your grace and strength we shall bear fruit. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
