Prayers for the Church

Introduction

After challenging them about their faith, their fruit, and their fellowship being in Christ Paul offers a prayer for the church of Colossae that mirrored his desire for them to continue looking to Christ for everything. Prayer is an important element in the life of a Christian and Paul demonstrates a humble spirit in his prayer as he offers it, not for himself who is currently imprisoned, but for this church. He desired for the church to stay true to the teachings of the Gospel that had before been preached to them by Epaphras and that they would not allow false teachers to lead them astray.

As he prays for the church it is evident that he desires for them to attain and retain some spiritual attributes that would keep them focused on Jesus Christ and seeking to follow him and him alone.

He prayed for the church to be filled with the Knowledge of Christ

Colossians 1:9 “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”

Paul prays that the church might be filled with the knowledge of his will. So Paul wants them to know what Christ would have them do in our lives. Some people claim not to know what God wants for them to do in their lives while the truth is that they rarely seek to be filled with the knowledge of his will.

Knowledge is something gained from something studied. You cannot know Christ’s will for you unless you have studied Christ. Paul understood that the more that the church knew of Christ the more revelation there would be for the Christian to understand what God wants from them. The more people sought Christ for what he wants them to do the more of Christ’s will that would be accomplished in the world.

What are you doing to expand your knowledge about Christ and his will for your life? Are you reading the word? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you attending church faithfully? Are you spending time with godly men and women that want the best for your spiritual maturity?

Are you just going through motions of life? Get up, got to work, get off, go to the grocery store, make dinner, go to bed, get up the next day, go to work, get off, mow the lawn, make dinner, go to bed, get up go to work etc. etc. etc.

Get to know Christ and his will for your life and then live it.

He prayed for the church to be known for obedience to Christ

Colossians 1:10 “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

Paul is praying for the church to walk worthy of the Lord. Now we know that none of us are worthy of Christ. We are not worthy of his coming to earth. We are not worthy of his ministry. We are not worthy of his sacrifice. We are not worthy of his redemption, salvation, forgiveness, love, mercy, or compassion. In Christ, however, we are able to walk in obedience to his commands. In his love he came to this earth to be crucified upon the cross, die for our sins, rise from the dead, so that we could be saved from sin and spend eternity in heaven.

Paul prays for the Christians to walk worthy of what Christ did for them. He is praying that they will stay true to Christ, to the gospel that was preached to them, and to the calling that gospel put upon their lives. He prays for their salvation to result in their obedience to Christ.

Are you obedient? Has your salvation led to keeping the commands of Christ? Are you just positionally pure or are you living pure; in obedience to Christ.

He prayed for the church to be strengthened in their endurance for Christ

Colossians 1:11–12 “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:”

Definition of Patience:

Patience is endurance in action

The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Three: A Prisoner’s Prayer (Colossians 1:9–12))

It was not easy being a Christian in the Roman empire. Idolatry abounded from city to city to city. This idolatry led to all kinds of sexual and social sins that were in violation of God’s law. The fleshly desires that was developed out of this lifestyle were strong and pervasive. People get angry and violent and destructive when their desires are threatened by someone preaching holiness. Christians were preaching against idolatry, against fornication, against superstition, and against all manners of sin and degradation. Unbelievers despised Christians. They hated them just like Jesus said they would.

I don’t know about you, but it is hard to be hated. It is also hard to stand against culture. It is hard to stand against a mob. When you look around our society you see much of the same moral despair as the Roman empire had in it. You see sexual impropriety, dishonesty, ungratefulness, selfishness, violence, etc. You see people who embrace all of it in pursuit of being tolerant and inclusive. The group they continuously want to exclude is the same group the Roman Empire tried to persecute and destroy time and again; Christians.

There are times when it is difficult to be a Christian, difficult to do what is right and stand for what is right, difficult to proclaim what is right and live right, and it is not getting any easier. It was easy for the Christians in Colossae and it isn’t easy for you here today.

Paul’s prayer was for the church was to be strengthened by the power of Christ to endure the suffering that the Christians faced when they lived and stood righteously. He prayed that because he knew how difficult it was to do that.

Today, I have no doubt that this would be Paul’s prayer for each and every local church; that the members would be strengthened by the power of Christ to live righteously and stand for truth even when it isn’t popular and even when we will suffer for it.

Conclusion

Paul prays for us to have the knowledge of his will?

Do you know Christ as your Saviour? Do you know Christ as you should? Do you spend time in the word and in prayer to get to know Jesus? Do you know what his will is for your life?

Paul prays for us to be obedient to Christ?

Do you know what it means to be obedient? Are there areas of your life where you are not obedient to Christ? Are there things that you need to confess so that you can walk in obedience to Christ?

Paul prays for us to be strengthened by Christ to endure in persecution?

What do you do when someone doesn’t like your faith? What do you do when someone laughs at your obedience? What do you do when someone persecutes your faith? What do you do when someone mocks your Saviour?

Paul’s prayer for the Colossians was that they would get to know the person of Christ, be obedient to him, and activate his power in their lives to endure the persecution and the suffering that he knew they would endure for living right and proclaiming righteousness.

Paul’s prayer, this morning, extends to you. This was a prayer for the people of Colossae, but the Bible is written for us to apply to our lives. So, this prayer becomes a prayer, not just for the church at Colossae, but for this church and every local church that seeks to live for Jesus Christ.

How will you respond to Paul’s prayer for you?