We get to really know the heart of someone when we hear them pray. While we only get to read Paul’s prayers rather than hear him, we still get the heart of love and grace Paul has when praying for his people.
While Paul was a deeply praying man, we don’t have many of his prayers recorded. However, what we do have are prayers that model for us a style and content of praying that are powerful and filled with rich blessing and Grace.
Let’s have a look at some of them over the next few posts.
Here goes…
Dear friends in Colossae,
My name is Paul and I have been chosen by Jesus Christ to be his apostle, by the calling and destined purpose of God.My colleague, Timothy, and I send this letter to all the holy believers who have been united to Jesus as beloved followers of the Messiah.
May God, our true Father, release upon your lives the riches of his kind favor and heavenly peace through the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.
Every time we pray for you our hearts overflow with thanksgiving to Father God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your devoted lives of faith in Christ Jesus and your tender love toward all his holy believers.
Your faith and love rise within you as you access all the treasures of your inheritance stored up in the heavenly realm.
For the revelation of the true gospel is as real today as the day you first heard of our glorious hope, now that you have believed in the truth of the gospel. – Colossians 1:1-5 (TPT)
This short prayer introduction is so full of encouragement. Paul does not urge his readers to do greater exploits, to follow Jesus harder, or to live lives more intensely devoted. He simply commends them for their unity and their belief in Jesus and foir being beloved followers of the Messiah. In other words, Paul says, “I commend you for being who you are and I am praying that God will do more.
By commending them for their faithful relationship with Jesus he know that they will also be very fruitful in the Kingdom.
Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, which continues through the following verses is a wonderful model for personal and corporate prayer.
May God, our true Father, release upon your lives the riches of his kind favor and heavenly peace through the Lord Jesus… – vs 2
Paul, with sincere thankfulness commends their “devoted lives of faith in Jesus” and their “tender love toward all His holy believers.” (vs 4)
He doesn’t ask them to have devoted lives or suggest that they might love more, or to regard other believers as being holy. He commends them as though they are already doing all that.
Your faith and love rise within you as you access all the treasures of your inheritance stored up in the heavenly realm.
For the revelation of the true gospel is as real today as the day you first heard of our glorious hope, now that you have believed in the truth of the gospel. – vs 5
This is the wonderful message that is being spread everywhere, powerfully changing hearts throughout the earth, just like it has changed you! Every believer of this good news bears the fruit of eternal life as they experience the reality of God’s grace. – vs 6
The Gospel is indeed a Gospel of Grace, the Good News of God’s power at work within us, all because we believe (have faith) in Jesus.
Because we have faith in Jesus we can also ask for, and receive…
- The riches of divine favor.
- Heavenly peace.
- Access to all of the treasures of inheritance.
- Fruit of eternal life.
- The reality of God’s Grace.
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