Prayer: The Power Behind the Gospel
“Listen Up to the One in Charge!” • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsPaul's prayer demonstrates a powerful way to pray to our Father in Heaven.
Notes
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Handout
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Text: 1:9-14
Main Idea:
Introduction
Introduction
Attention (Why should they listen to you?)
Making a deal with God kinda prayer or...
Have you ever had the kind of friend that shows up when they need something but then, after their néed is met, they are gone without a trace?
Unfortunatley that’s often the way we treat prayer...
I am not convinced we, as a church, truly appreciate the power and efficacy of prayer...How powerful do you believe prayer to be?
Does God, in fact, answer prayer? Does He? Of course He does! Each one of us here this morning, if we are His child by faith in Jesus Christ, He hears us! He answers our prayer, unless...
We regard iniquity (sin) in our hearts
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
We ask for something outside of His will
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
We ask with wrong motives
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
We ask with no faith
We ask with no faith (; )
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
But other than these examples, God does hear and answer our prayer! Paul understood this very well! This is why he was a man of prayer!
Forty two times in his writings, the Apostle prays! https://www.kevinhalloran.net/the-apostle-pauls-prayers-in-the-bible/
He knew how helpless he was apart from the power of God. And, he knew how helpless the Colossians were as well. And so Paul and Timothy regularly and consistently prayed for their friends in this Church. Even though Paul had never physically met them, he prayed for this Church that Epaphras started.
Why? Because He believed that Prayer was the power behind the sanctifying work of the gospel!
What is the Biblical Solution?
And you know what? We, in 2019 need to believe this as well!
Prayer is where the power comes from. When we pray, we tap into the inexhaustible, irrefutably all-powerful God of the Universe!
Do you believe this? Paul did and that is why he prayed for these people. He knew that there wasn’t much he could do while he was locked up in Rome. He could write them and encourage them, hence the letter we are studying. And he could pray. And pray he did!
They were facing the ravaging results of heretical teaching! And so Paul prayed!
Believer, you and your fellow Christians are facing all kinds of philosophies, theologies, ideologies that easily derail people from their walk of faith! What will you do?
Maybe we should take a page from the Apostle and PRAY!
Main Textual Idea:
In fact this is the main idea of the text we are studying this morning!
Main Idea: Do Not Stop Praying!
Interrogative:
Interrogative: Okay, we should not stop praying because we are called to be people of prayer and prayer is powerful and does make a difference. We hopefully all agree on this point.
But HOW should we pray? Well we can learn a lot from the Apostle on this. There are three ways in which he perseveres in prayer and the first one is...
Transition:
Body (Satisfaction)
1. Keep Praying for the Knowledge of His Will (vs. 9-10)
Lead in...
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Text -
Epaphras shows up in Rome while Paul is on house arrest. Year is the early 60’s A.D.. It was on that day, the day Epaphras arrived, that Paul and Timothy heard about the church in Colossae. Yes they heard about the heresies that were infiltrating the church, but they also heard about their faith, love and hope that they had - the “love in the Spirit” they showed.
That in spite of the challenges, they were still growing and flourishing in Christ.
And since that day, Paul and Timothy had not stopped praying for them. This is convicting to me and so I pray for you daily!
They didn’t stop praying for them!
But do you notice what they prayed for them about?
That they “may be filled with the knowledge of HIS WILL in ALL spiritual wisdom and understanding,”
What does this mean?
Paul uses two important words in this sentence.
w
First “fill” (pleroo) which means “filling out to completeness” BKC
Second, “knowledge” (epignosis) “a full, deep understanding, a depth of knowledge.” BKC
So Paul prayed that they would have a completely full, deep understanding of the will of God!
In addition to this he prayed that God would give them “spiritual wisdom and understanding”
MacArthur defines “Wisdom” as “the ability to accumulate and organize principles from Scripture.” And “Understanding” as “the application of those principles to daily living.”
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.
This kind of “wisdom” and “understanding” can only come from one source, the Holy Spirit who enlightens every believer’s inner person...
1 Cor
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
So it is the Spirit of God that enlightens the thinking of a Christian so they know and understand the Will of God, which is revealed in the Word of God. And that knowledge, wisdom and understanding lead to something interesting; they lead to a different walk!
What does this mean?
Look at the text...
10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
What
Paul prayed that their changed thinking would lead to changed living!
Think about what Paul is asking! He is not praying for their physical health, for their financial well being, for their comfort or even for their daily bread! But notice what he does pray for!
A worthy walk!
What is a worthy walk? Transformed character!!
The word “worthy” means “of equal weight.” Believers are to equal the standards of Jesus. Look at what Peter tells us...
15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
A Worthy Walk is one that is fully pleasing to Jesus -
One that is fully pleasing to Jesus -
9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
There are two ways that Paul gives for the believer to please the Lord in this passage.
First - Bearing fruit IN every good work - Certainly there are good works that we are to engage in as believers...
attending worship services
praying regularly
studying Scripture
giving generously from our financial resources
joining a small group
going on missions trips
caring for the poor
working for justice for the oppressed
loving our neighbors, and so forth.
But the way Paul says this phrase is good for us to analyze and understand. “Bearing fruit IN every good work” is better understood they way the NLT translates it, “Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.”
In other words, in the Christian life, whatever you do has the potential to be a good work.
Your parenting is a good work
Your job is a good work
You marriage is a good work
You witness for Christ is a good work
1 Con 10:31
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
The second way to be pleasing to the Lord is...
Increasing in the knowledge of God - Paul wants this church to not grow stagnant in the knowledge of God. There is not greater pursuit than learning more and more about God! This is our goal in this life and the next.
What could they do to know more about the God who is outside the limits of their understanding? Why bother, right?
No! That’s like being very hungry and going to an all-you-can eat buffet and not taking anything from the buffet because you can’t possibly eat it all! You get what you can and go back for more! Okay, I don’t want to promote gluttony, but when it comes to God and knowing Him more, we should absolutely be stuffing ourselves.
Illustration -
When it comes to knowing God, be a glutton!
When it comes to knowing God, be a glutton!
Ways to know God better? Read - Watch - Listen - Discuss
Read - The word
Watch - Youtube videos
Listen - to the word, podcasts, audiobooks
Discuss - purpousely engage with others about spiritual things. (Bible Studies with friends).
So, these two things, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God are what it means to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
This, in fact, is God’s will!
And this is Paul’s earnest desire and PRAYER for His friends in Colossae.
I‘m a fixer…but before I try to fix people, perhaps a better approach is to pray that they understand God’s will?!
There is a lot of confusion out there. And I believe that even in the church, maybe even in this church there could be people who do not fully understand the will of God. What do you think your first step should be in order to help them understand God’s will? Well, if we learn anything from Paul, we should START with prayer!
What an amazing prayer for you to pray!!
Review - Do Not Stop Praying!
1. Keep Praying for the Knowledge of His Will
2. Keep Praying for the Strength of His Might (vs. 11)
Lead in…When I was a kid, I always wanted to be the “strong man”.
Text -
11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
Paul continues his amazing prayer in this verse. Not only does he pray for them to know the will of God, but he prays that they would receive a supernatural strength from on high to be able to follow through with the will of God! So that they can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
I want you to notice what Paul does not pray. He does not say, “Lord, help them to be strengthened with all power according to their glorious might.”
Paul is not interested in the Colossians living their faith out in their own strength. This flies in the face of Biblical Christianity. We must not rely on our strength, which is feeble and failing. Instead, we must stand on the strength of our God!
Paul, of anyone got this!
1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
What an enigmatic phrase! “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” This is such a challenging concept for us. We are taught our entire lives to work hard! That if we want something, we must get up, get after it, kill it and bring it home. Weakness is viewed with distain!
16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
So believers receive all the power necessary from God himself, for what purpose? To lift up buildings like superman?
Twilight Zone - Burgess Meredith was given super strength as an experiment by Aliens from another planet. Instead of using that gift for helping humanity, he decided to pick up a building to prove how strong he was. What a waste.
God gives us His strength, not for us to show off, but for us to persevere.
11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
We have the strength of God so we can make it through this very difficult, sin-filled life!
J.D. Greear, current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, writes, “Most Christians haven’t rejected God; they have just reduced him.” Not God Enough, J.D. Greear, 2018, p.38
We are able to face the trials and tribulations of this life and we are, because of the strength that God provides, capable to endure and persevere until the end and we are able to do this patiently with Joy! Why is this possible? Because of His might. Paul didn’t give this mere lip service...
The weakest saint can experience the power of the Deity of the Son of God if once he is willing to ‘let go.’ Any strand of our own energy in ourselves will blur the life of Jesus. We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part, and men will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.
1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986).
Before he took his own life, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Paul knew, not just theologically, but experientially that God held Him in the palm of his hand and he served Him!
Illustration - He Will Hold Me Fast!
When I fear my faith will fail
Christ will hold me fast
When the tempter would prevail
He will hold me fast
I could never keep my hold
Through life's fearful path
For my love is often cold
He must hold me fast.
He will hold me fast
He will hold me fast
For my Savior loves me so
He will hold me fast
Listen to the wise words of Oswald Chambers...
“Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost”—not power as a gift from the Holy Ghost; the power is the Holy Ghost, not something which He imparts.
The weakest saint can experience the power of the Deity of the Son of God if once he is willing to ‘let go.’ Any strand of our own energy in ourselves will blur the life of Jesus. We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part, and men will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986).
J.D. Greear, current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, writes, “Most Christians haven’t rejected God; they have just reduced him.” Not God Enough, J.D. Greear, 2018, p.38
Paul prayed for His friends in Colossae to be strong in the Lord. I think that is a pretty good idea.
Pray for
Pray this way - “Dear Lord, I lift ____________ before you today and ask that they be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy!”
Review - Do Not Stop Praying!
1. Keep Praying for the Knowledge of His Will
2. Keep Praying for the Strength of His Might
3. Keep Thanking the Father Because He Qualified You (12-14)
Lead in…Thanking God is still praying. And perhaps we should spend more time thanking the Lord than we do...
Text -
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul shifts gears in his prayer from intercession to thanksgiving To the Father in Heaven. And what does he thank the Father for? I would argue he is thanking the Father for the single most important set of facts for the believer in Christ. Do you see these facts in these verses? Take a look!
1. Fact #1 - You have an Amazing Inheritance - You are qualified (lit., “made you competent) to share in the inheritance of the saints (i.e., the kingdom treasures that belong to believers). As non-Jews, the Colossians might have thought this was not possible because they were not of God’s chosen people. but Paul dispells this quickly by thanking the Father for their qualification. It was because of the Father’s plan that Jesus, God the Son would become a man, live a sinless life, die a criminal’s death on our behalf, rise from the dead so that we can, by faith, have the hope of eternal life. And that eternal life includes an inheritance that is beyond our very limited understanding!
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
- “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’”
The term “light” is important because that is where the believer’s inheritance is located. MacArthur says, “The saints’ inheritance exists in the spiritual realm of truth and purity where God Himself dwells.”
- [our Lord Jesus Christ], which he will display at the proper time — he who is blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kind and Lord of lords, who alone has imortality, who dwells in unapproachable light…”
My friends, if you have faith in Christ, you have an inheritance that is literally, out of this world. You may be a poor as a church mouse in this life, but if you are in Christ, you are more wealthy than the wealthiest people on this planet.
Did you know the combind income of Bill Gate, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos in 2018 was 388 billion dollars. Jeff Bezos had 140 billion dollar piece of that pie!
But if you are a believer, those impressive numbers are peanuts in comparison to the riches you have in Christ.
So, Fact #1 - You have and amazing inheritance!
2. Fact #2 - You have an Astounding Deliverance - We all love stories when someone is being held captive against their will and the hero breaks in to save them and bring them to a place of peace and safety.
Paul wants the Colossians to know and appreciate that they have been DELIVERED from the dark kingdom of Satan. He is alive and well and the Prince of the Power of the air. He is the wiley accuser of the bretheren. He wants nothing more than to destroy everything that has God’s stamp on it, including you. For a time, he has been given this earth as his “kingdom” to do his dirty work.
But for those who place their whole faith in Jesus Christ and their finished work on the cross, they are TRANSFERRED to the Kingdom of Jesus, beloved Son of God the Father!
In order to gain the inheritance of God, you needed to be rescued by God. In order to be in the kingdom of light, you needed to be delivered from the kingdom of darkness!
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
1 thes 1 10
We must regularly remember from whince we came! What we truly deserve and where we since have been placed! And all the while never forgetting that it was God who planned and accomplished all of this on our behalf!
Fact #1 - You have an amazing inheritance
Fact #2 - You have an astounding delieverence
3. Fact # 3 - You have an Undeserved Forgiveness - I heard the story of a man who killed a young woman because he was drunk while driving. This obviously was devastating to her family, especially her mom. Yet her mom is a believer. And do you know what she did? This man begged for forgiveness from her, and she forgave him! Did he deserve it? NO!! But she extended it nonetheless. Do you know why? Because as devastated as she was about her daughter, she knew how much the Lord forgave her and she thought, how could I not forgive this man. He is out of jail now and they tour the country giving talks on the dangers of drunk driving and the power of forgivness.
Paul is thanking God for their redemption (being bought back) and the forgiveness of sins.
Do you fully appreciate what God has done for you? He is the hero of the story! He is our rescuer! He, by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ, paid your randsom!
And the interesting thing is, you were not some innocent victim. tells a different story about us. We were enemies of God! And yet, because of His great love and compassion for us, still desired to offer redemption and forgiveness!
We most certainly didn’t deserve such treatment, yet because of His great grace, He offered in nonetheless!
The bottom line reality is that you and I could never, in a million years do enough to earn our qualification for heaven. It is simply not a possibility because we have broken God’s law over and over and we need to pay for it! There is no way we can get out of paying for breaking God’s law anymore than that drunk driver could get out of spending time in jail because of his guilt.
So if we are guilty, how is it that we can be qualified for heaven?
THE GOSPEL! It is the Gospel or the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God very left the Kingdom of Heaven to be born in a manger, a feeding trough, live a servant’s life sinlessly, die on the cross to satisfy the wrath of God, be burried to rise again from the dead on the third day. All of this was necessary to provide you with the opportunity for eternal life! And by faith if you take Jesus by His word And believe that He is the ONLY one who can save you from eternal condemnation, you will then be qualified by him. You will have eternal life in heaven!
Illustration -
Paul thanked God for their qualification! He prayed that for them regularly And now he is praying for them in this letter. Why? Well certainly to tap into God’s power through prayer. But for another reason as well. To teach them how to pray for each other as well.
Guess what, friends! We must learn to thank God for what He has accomplished in our lives as well as in the lives of others. Paul thanked God on behalf of the Colossians! Paul didn’t just pray for himself, He prayed and thanked God for them as well.
What is your prayer habit?
I believe we need to learn and copy from the apostle Paul here...
Give thanks to the Father for the qualification and the inheritance they have. Thank God that they have been delivered from the domain of Darkness and have been transferred to the kingdom of Jesus. Thank God that they are redeemed and forgiven!
What effect do you think this will have on you? I think you will grow to appreciate these people even more because they are just as redeemable as you!
Review - Do Not Stop Praying!
1. Keep Praying for the Knowledge of His Will
2. Keep Praying for the Strength of His Might
3. Keep Thanking the Father Because He Qualified You
Conclusion (Visualization)
Nobody likes it when a friend shows up ONLY when they are in need.
We ought not to people who pray like this either. “Hey God, it’s me again - give me, give me, give me…”
No, we need to be people who “Pray without ceasing!” Constantly in communion with God, not just praying for ourselves, but lifting OTHERS before the throne of His Grace praying that they would know the will of God. Praying that He would strengthen them in the strength of His power and thanking Him for His AMAZING provision of salvation for you and them!
Folks - DON’T STOP PRAYING!!!
We cannot stop praying for one another! We just cannot! If true change comes from God then it stands to reason that we must go to God often to tap into His inexaustible power!
And if we pray for each other like Paul prayed for the Colossians, I can only imagine the amazing things that are in store for ABC!
Land the Plane
You have the model - now get to it!
Elder...
Discussion Questions
Prayer is so important in the Christian life. Discuss the importance of intercessory (praying for others) prayer. What do you do to ensure you are praying for others?
Knowing the will of God is crucial for the Christian. How can we know His will for our lives? Why do you think Paul prays for this in their lives?
God is omnipotent but He doesn’t keep His strength to Himself. How do we tap into the strength of God? What is the benefit when we do? How should this effect our prayer for others?
We have much to be thankful for. In verses 12-14 what is Paul thankful? This is a great praise list that you can pray for yourself and others. What are some practical ways we can incorporated thanksgiving into our prayer lives?