GOD HAS GIVEN US THE GREAT GIFT OF PRAYER,
AND CHRISTIANS SHOULD USE IT WISELY, AND OFTEN.
BIBLE PASSAGE:
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,
(Colossians 1:9-10)
MEDITATION:
Praying effectively isn’t something we all naturally know how to do;
for most Christians, it must be learned. In fact, one of the disciples
who had walked with Jesus, asked for help in this area.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He
finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach
us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
(Luke 11:1)
So often we hear requests to bless, protect, and provide for a person.
Although these are good things to ask of the Lord, there is another,
more powerful way to pray. When we speak to Him using scripture,
our conversation contains the authority of almighty God.
The apostle Paul wrote this passage to the Colossian church. From
these verses, we know the specific requests he brought before God
concerning his brothers. These are applicable to us today as well.
Let’s focus on the first two requests.
First, Paul asked for the believers to understand God’s plan for
their lives. The Lord often does not reveal everything at once,
but He gives to seeking hearts enough information to trust and
follow His way.
Secondly, the apostle prayed that the Colossian Christians would
conduct themselves in a manner worthy of Christ and pleasing to
Him. Paul wanted to see their lives be consistent with their true
spiritual identity. A follower of Jesus is evident to other people
because of his or her lifestyle and their spiritual fruit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23)
One of the greatest gifts we can give is to lift a person in prayer. And
there is no more powerful way to do this than to speak Scripture on
his or her behalf. Colossians 1:9-14 is a beautiful example of how we
can pray when we bring loved ones and ourselves before God’s throne.
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.
(Colossians 1:9-14)
ACTION:
As Christians, when we tell someone we will pray for them, we do it!
We don’t make a mental note to include them in our prayers at the
end of the day. Instead, we pray for them as soon as we can. We may
even pray for them in our minds right then.
Sometimes we may not know exactly how to pray for someone else.
We should remember that God doesn’t need our instructions or advice,
He just wants to hear that we care about someone and want Him to be
active in their lives. We could pray something like this:
“Heavenly Father, I feel this person needs You in their life
so I’m asking You to provide for their needs in the way
that You know is best. You see and know the whole person
and I trust that You will supply all their needs. Your Word
tells us to pray for others, and that’s what I am doing right
now. Thank You for how You will impact their lives in a way
they might never have expected.”
Questions to consider:
– How often do I pray for others?
– Do I pray for those who are sick?
– Do I pray for those who are going through difficult times?
– Do I pray for those who are lost?
– Do I extend my prayers to those other than my immediate friends and family?
– Do I pray God’s Word back to Him?
– How often do I tell someone I am praying for them? For us it might seem,
unnecessary, but for them, it could mean the world and be just what they
needed to hear at that moment.
– If I don’t tell others I am praying for them, what is my rationale for not
telling them? We see many scriptures where followers of Jesus tell others
they are praying for them. Shouldn’t we be following the example we have
have been given by them?
– Why wouldn’t I want to tell others I am praying for them? Am I too busy
to take the time? Do I fail to tell them, because I’m real not going to pray
for them? Does it make me feel uncomfortable to tell them? Was Jesus
uncomfortable going to the cross for me? Were the disciples uncomfortable
telling others they were praying for them, even when some of them needed
prayers for themselves because they were suffering for not being quiet about
their faith?
– Can I recall a time or times when someone told me they were praying for
me and asked me if I had any special needs they could pray for? How did
it affect me?
– What will I say to Jesus at the judgment of believers if He asks me my reason
for not praying for others, and telling them that I am praying for them? Will
He accept my reasons, especially when I have read these scriptures.
Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show
them that they should always pray and not give up.
(Luke 18:1)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds
of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
(Ephesians 6;18)
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.
(Philippians 1:4)
We always thank God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you
(Colossians 1:3)
We always thank God for all of you and
continually mention you in our prayers.
(1 Thessalonians 1:2)
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,
and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more,
and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.
(2 Thessalonians 1:3)
I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers
(Philemon 1:4)
The world encourages us to be takers and not givers. But Jesus teaches
His followers to be givers. He showed us how to be givers and tells us
in the scriptures that He is praying for us. Which one is in control of
our lives, the influence of the world, or the teachings of Jesus to those
who are actively dedicated to following Him?
When we pray for others, we are expressing our unselfish concerns
for them to our Heavenly Father. When we tell others we are praying
for them, it’s not an expression of our godliness, it is for the benefit of
those we are praying for. We don’t know how burdened they might
be, or how much they need some encouragement at that moment.
Some are hurting, but because they fail to reach out to others for
encouragement and support through prayer, their burdens can
seem even greater. That’s why the followers of Jesus are expected
to proactively reach out to others and let them know they are not
alone in their struggles, because as followers of Jesus, we choose
to encourage them through our prayers for them.
Imagine someone who is feeling alone in their struggles and a brother
or sister in Jesus tells them they are being prayed for. Imagine their
feelings when we ask them if they have anything special they would
like for us to pray about.
We live in a world of selfishness and self-centeredness, so when we
ask someone if they have anything in their lives that needs prayer,
we are obeying the law of Jesus to love others as we should love
ourselves. We give others the opportunity to ask for our prayers
for something they may not have ever mentioned, if we had not
taken the time to ask them for their prayer needs.
When we pray for others, when we tell them we are praying for
them, and when we ask for their prayer needs, we are displaying
the sincerity and genuineness of our concern for others. We are
showing our love for them even though we may have prayer needs
ourselves; we are showing the humbleness of Jesus.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united
with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common
sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having
the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather,
in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to
your own interests but each of you to the interests of the
others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same
mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used
to His own advantage; rather, He made himself nothing by
taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human
likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death; even
death on a cross!
(Philippians 2:1-8)
Did you catch the last part of the verses just listed? Jesus humbled
Himself and was obedient to God’s will, even to His death on the
cross. Could that mean that when we fail to pray for others, and
don’t encourage them by telling them we are praying for them,
then we are lacking the humbleness of Jesus in our own lives?
When someone comes to our mind, how do we respond? Do we
brush it off and continue going about our business? Or do we
realize it could have been the Lord causing us to think about
them because they are in need, and He wants us to reach out
to them, to let them know we are praying for them, and then,
pray for them?
Read these words from Jesus to our Heavenly Father:
“I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am
still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of
My joy within them. I have given them Your word and the
world has hated them, for they are not of the world any
more than I am of the world.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but
that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of
the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth;
Your word is truth.
As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the
world. For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be
truly sanctified.
(John 17:13-19)
Jesus Prays for All Believers – He tells us in God’s Word that He does.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who
will believe in Me through their message, that all of them
may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.
May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that
You have sent Me.
I have given them the glory that You gave me, that they may
be one as We are one—I in them and You in Me—so that they
may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know
that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved
Me.
“Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where
I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because
You loved Me before the creation of the world.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know
you, and they know that You have sent Me. I have made You
known to them, and will continue to make You known in
order that the love You have for Me may be in them and
that I Myself may be in them.”
(John 17:20-26)
If God has spoken to you through this devotional/lesson He
gave me to distribute, how will you respond to what He has
told us in His message that He gave me to share? Will you
think to yourself, “That’s a nice message”, or will you commit
to becoming more like Jesus and approach prayer with a new
vigor and desire to impact the lives of others?
As followers of Jesus, God gives us ample opportunities to
confirm our faith, trust and commitment to Him. Here are
just a few:
– Pray for others,
– Love God and love others.
– Express our concern for others.
– Tell others we are praying for them.
– Have a burden to pray for lost souls?
– Allow humility to overrule selfishness and arrogant pride.
– Worship with other followers of Jesus.
– Joyfully bring the Lord our tithes.
– Use our spiritual gift to serve God where He has called us.
– Embrace God’s sanctification of us.
– Invite the Holy Spirit to influence all we do and say.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us prayer as a
venue for communicating with You. Help me to be more
sensitive to the sick, the hurting, and the lost souls. Teach
me how to effectively pray for others. Lead me to Your
scriptures on prayer so I will have a greater understanding
of how to pray. Make me aware of any lack of humbleness
in my own life and remind me of how humble Jesus was
and how even today He is praying to You for me.”
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