A Labor of Love

Colossians 4:12-13

I. REAL PRAYER IS REAL WORK.

A. Laboring in prayer in not accomplished in five minutes.

Most of you will work many hrs. this week before getting paid, is it any different in prayer?

B. Whether in prayer, service, or duty, we labor if we truly believe in it.

Do we not pour ourselves into every activity we feel truly compassionate about?

II. THE COMMITMENT TO PRAY IS A RESULT OF UNSELFISHNESS.

A. There is a certain amount of selfishness in all of us, yet to varying degrees.

1) Some Christians are so rapped up in themselves that they’re the only ones they ever see.

2) The epitome of selfishness is seen when they make everyone else think about them.

It’s not enough for me to be concerned about myself, I also want everyone else to be concerned.

Granted there are times when we all need encouragement, but that kind of thing goes beyond a need, it incorporates a want.

3) Selfishness manifests itself in a need for attention, and in an insatiable desire for me to be fed.

B. Unselfishness is the result of a deeper understanding of God’s purpose for my life.

Yet some would say, doesn’t God want me to be happy?

The answer is yes, but happy in serving Him!

1) My purpose is to serve Him where He has placed me. I am not to manipulate situations, service, or relationships, for my own glory.

2) My purpose is to decrease as He increases. (The Baptists saying)

3) My purpose is to do everything for the benefit of the brethren. (Preferring one-another over self)

The brethren are those that here in the local church.

C. Prayer is the natural result of a steadfast life in Christ.

Prayer is the Christians vital breath,

The Christian’s native air;

His watchword at the gates of death;

He enters heaven with prayer.

III. THE LOVE OF THE BRETHREN AND THE DESIRE FOR THEIR MATURITY IS THE OBJECT BEFORE US.

When I first met my wife and began to date her, I did not know what love is. Even now after 8 years of dating, and 25 years of marriage, I know love, but not like I will know tomorrow.

You see, my love for my wife is ever changing, getting better every day. The more time we have on this earth the greater our love for each other.

This is how it is with Christ, the longer we spend with Him the more we love Him. And that love of and for Christ is found in the brethren.

A. Spend time with each other, and watch for each other.

B. Seek the maturity and perfection in Christ for one another in prayer.

C. Pray about the hard things and not the fluff.

D. Pray, pray, and pray again and again, over and over and never quit, till God takes us home.