SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/26/2016 10:30 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
Introduction to Colossians 1:9-11
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Colossians 1:9-11
Message of the verses: “9 For
this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for
you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all
spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10
so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in
all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge
of God; 11 strengthened with all power,
according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and
patience;”
We will be
looking at these verses over the next few days to see how Paul has prayed for
the Colossian believers and will find out that in this first part of his prayer
which goes from verse nine to eleven that he will be praying that they will be
filled with the knowledge of God’s will.
It is
interesting that in many of Paul’s letters he prays for the ones who he is
writing to, and in this case we see that after Epaphras had brought Paul the
news of the problems that the Colossians were going through, a problem that
could lead to some difficult sinfulness if not stopped that Paul is first of
all attacking the problem through prayer.
Also in many of Paul’s letters towards the end of them he will ask the
recipient of the letters to pray for some specific needs in his life, so prayer
in the beginning for those he is writing to and then prayer for Paul at the end
of the letter.
The
internet is a marvelous way to get news around the world in seconds, but think
about Paul in a time when it was even difficult to travel long distances could
pray for the Colossian people and many others right from where he was at in
prison. Prayer goes faster than the
internet can take information from one place to another, and God really wants
us to pray for others.
Paul’s
ministry was teaching the Word of God to others and also to pray for them. John MacArthur writes “While Paul obviously
gives rich instruction to the Colossians; he also shares something of his
prayers for them. Verses 9-14 are a
sample of Paul’s ministry of prayer on their behalf. His passionate words contain two
elements: petition (vv. 9-11), and
praise (vv. 12-14).”
Paul knew
that it was very important for others to pray for him as he went about his
ministry, and this is something that we also should remember as we pray for
others in our lives. I receive prayer
letters from different missionaries and try to pray for the requests that they
send out as doing this I can be a part of their ministry. I know people who have ministered around the
world and so right here in my house as I pray for them God will hear my prayers
for people I know in Canada or Turkey, or the United States, or Cambodia or
Spain or Italy, or other places around the world.
The Bible
is full of examples of God’s people praying for each other. John MacArthur gives the following
examples: “
·
Job prayed for his friends (Job 42:10).
·
Moses prayed for Aaron (Deut. 9:20) and Miriam
(Num. 12:13).
·
Samuel prayed for Israel (1 Sam. 7:5, 9).
·
David prayed for Israel (2 Sam. 24:17) and
Solomon (1 Corn. 29:18-19).
·
Hezekiah prayed for Judah (2 Kings 19:14-19).
·
Ezekiel prayed for Israel (Ezek. 9:8).
·
Nehemiah prayed for Judah (Neh. 1:4-11).
·
Jesus prayed for His disciples (John 17:9-24).
·
The Jerusalem church prayed for Peter’s release
from prison (Acts 12:5).
·
Paul prayed for Christians (e. g., Rom. 1:9-10;
Eph. 1:16-19).
·
Epaphras prayed for the Colossians (Col. 4:12).
Because prayer is so important,
Paul starts his letter by sharing the nature of his prayers for the Colossians
before he begins to teach them. Two
elements compose the content of his prayer:
petition (vv. 9-11) and praise (vv. 12-14).”
12/26/2016 10:58 PM
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