Intercessory Prayer: The Power To Change Lives

Introduction

Good Morning. You know one of the first things I get to do most mornings is take that first breath of the morning. I know I am breathing through the night. But, what I’m talking about is that first waking breath. It’s YES! I have a new day! Thank you father! I always look forward to the day. I wonder where and how God will lead me today. Who will I meet, who will I see? When I see someone, whether it’s one of my ladies, perhaps a one of you, perhaps someone in the community, or just a random person; I often think is there something today that is making that person happy. If there is, will they share where I can rejoice with them? Are they sad or struggling with something? Again, will they share and open just a little where I could lend a listening ear?

We have these opportunities everywhere. That’s because, for a large part of our time, we are around people. Consider the person next to you, either to your right, you left, in front of you or just behind you. That person could be rejoicing or might be looking for someone to share something happening in their life.

We become blessed when this person open up, because it’s an opportunity to pray with and for that person. On Wednesday night, we have prayer - right here in this sanctuary. We join in prayer as a group and lift what is on our minds to the throne of God. We pray over a range of things. We have a pretty detailed list we pray over. Part of that list, is we pray over the many requests that come in during the week and sometimes during the weekend. It is especially humbling and savoring when I am allowed to hear a person pray for another. My hope is your next opportunity, would you consider joining us on Wednesday night?

Some of you might be thinking I don’t pray very well; I can’t pray out loud or in front of other people for that matter. A lot of us feel that why. Sometimes expressing words for the feelings we have is hard. And, that’s ok. God knows what’s on our heart when it might be hard to express.

When we pray for others - it’s powerful. One trait of Paul’s letters is an opening with prayer. Paul was letting the churches know they were in his thoughts, and were lifted before God. Our passage this morning takes us to Colossians. Turn with me into your Bibles to Colossians chapter 1. We’ll be reading from verses 9 through 11.

Colossians 1:9–11 ESV

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;

Pastoral Prayer

Throughout Paul’s ministry he acknowledged the important role of praying for others. In many of Paul’s letters, you can find him where he is praying for others and asking others to pray for him. Paul understood this importance that here in this letter he begins with thanksgiving and prayer. This morning we will looking parts of Paul’s prayer to the Colossians.

When we take a look at Paul’s prayer, there are three characteristics that describe Paul’s prayer in the first half of verse 9. The first characteristic is what’s prompting it. The first two words tie to verses 3 through 8, and the condition of the church. Paul expressed great joy when he heard of the Colossians’ faith in Christ Jesus. The joy continued from that day, and that, too, became the reason for prayer. Paul saw the dangers in the theological heresy and what it would do to the congregation. The words of the prayer reveal Paul’s concern about the future of the church.

Right in the middle of verse 9 we get right down to the nature of Paul’s prayer. That is pray and asking. When you look at just the word “pray.” It’s generally considered a general term. It help describe what we are doing. The second word “asking” is much more specific. This expresses, or brings, a particular request to God to intervene in the lives of those who he was praying. The Bible is filled with examples of God’s people praying for each other:

Job prayed for his friends (Job 42:10)

Moses prayed for Aaron (Deut 9:20)

Samuel prayed for Israel (1 Sam. 7:5, 9)

Daniel prayed for Israel (Dan. 9:3-19)

Jesus prayed for His disciples (John 17:9-24)

The church prayed for Peter’s release (Acts 12:5)

The third characteristic found in the first half of verse 9 is evidence of consistence. Prayer has to be consistent. Paul says we have not ceased to pray. This means Paul Prayed regularly and consistently for them. Nehemiah is a great example of one who prayed without ceasing. When King Artaxerxes asked for the reason for his sadness, Nehemiah told him of the destruction of Jerusalem. In the midst of being afraid and a stressful situation, Nehemiah prayed a quick brief prayer before replying to the king. You see Nehemiah was knew God’s character. Part of Paul’s final instructions in his first letter to the Thessalonians was to:

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

17 pray without ceasing,

When we coming into prayer for others, it helps know a little of what is going on. We can narrow to the scope of the prayer to really target what is on our hearts. This is what Paul is doing. Paul was aware of the Colossians needs. He was able to zero right in. With unceasing prayer, this helps us to be people-conscience. Two elements of praying without ceasing came together in Paul’s prayer life. Paul was able to gain unbroken communication with the Father. Paul’s love for people grew in such a way that it drove him to continually pray for others.

The second half of verse 9 gets to the root of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians. Paul’s prayer was for them to be: be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Colossians 1:9 ESV

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,

The Greek word for “knowledge” can mean either full knowledge or more precise knowledge. This means Paul and Timothy asked that God would give the Colossian believer the exact knowledge of all His desires. Knowledge is a central theme in many of Paul writing. To the Corinthians he said:

1 Corinthians 1:5 ESV

5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—

Paul prayed that “the God our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” would give the Ephesians “a Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him”:

Ephesians 1:17 ESV

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

Paul prays that the knowledge we have would be God’s will. So what is God’s will for our lives? I heard someone once say, I have prayed, and I have had others pray over me to try and learn God’s will. And you know what, I have yet to learn God’s will. In fact God’s will is not secret. God’s will can be found right here in this. It doesn't mean we turn to commentaries or read online what others are talking about. These things can help. But! Nothing can replace the power of the Holy Spirit. When your reading scripture, I’d encourage you to pray first, that God’s Spirit many lift the words off the page in a new way for you. Second, when you are praying before you start reading, pray for others as there may be someone just like you beginning a study or has some similar questions as you do, and are searching through God’s Holy word. Through God’s Word we are able to have spiritual wisdom and understanding. We see this at the end of verse 9.

The Bible warns us of the danger of a lack of knowledge Proverbs says:

Proverbs 19:2 ESV

2 Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

Hosea says:

Hosea 4:6 ESV

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Paul’s prayer is for the Colossians to be filled with knowledge. That same prayer is still valid today. You see time spent in God’s word is always time well worth spent. When we spend time learning God’s word, God’s word puts us on track with God’s plan for our lives. The Holy Scriptures help lead us to righteous living, which allow us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Paul talks about this in here in verse 10.

When we hear the term “walk” in the Bible it is usually referring to our daily conduct. The simplest comparison would be yourself compared to your Sunday-self or the self that is presented to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Essentially it boils down to, are you two different people. One person on Sunday and a different person during the week. Or do you become a different person when you have unvetted time alone when no one else is around for hours at a time?

What we can draw from this is Spiritual knowledge and moral excellence support each other. This means theology and ethics were meant to go hand in hand. And that is part of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians that God will enable the Colossians to lead lives worthy of and leasing the Lord. Paul had this goal of pleasing the Lord:

2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

… And he had the same spiritual desire for the Colossians.

The New Testament describes several features of a worthy walk. These features include:

Humility (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Purity (Romans 13:13)

A Life of Contentment (1 Corinthians 7:17)

Faith (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Good Works (Ephesians 2:10)

Different From The World (Ephesians 4:17-32)

Love (Ephesians 5:2)

Light (Ephesians 5:8)

Wisdom (Ephesians 5:15)

and in Truth (3 John 3-4)

These features point to what Paul is referring to here in the middle of verse 10, where he says: “Bearing fruit in every good work” and here’s the kicker “increasing in the knowledge of God.” This prompts the question of “what produces fruit in believers’ lives?” First, it’s union with Jesus. Jesus said in:

John 15:4–5 NIV

4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

This is a two way street. Jesus will never force anything on you. But there must be a diligent effort on our part to increase in our knowledge of God. I enjoy what Peter says in:

2 Peter 1:5–8 ESV

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s hope for the Colossians was that their spiritual growth would include a deeper love for God’s Word. And, through this growth, obedience would lifted to new levels. But with any know of growth. There is always a call for prayer. As the person is growing in God’s Word, although the may not have anything going on in their lives at that particular moment, they still need prayer. The forces of darkness are moving against them. Their minds are continuing being bombarded with bad theology. This is why we see in verse 11 we see Paul praying for strength.

As we had seen earlier, Paul prayed continuously that they would be strengthened. Paul understood God was not like a 5-hour energy shot, or a God that would be like a booster rocket only giving Christian the necessary boost from time-to-time. No! Paul wanted them energized all the time, not just some of the time. God’s power is limitless. When we feel like God’s power ran out, or we need a re-charge. It is us who have put a limit on God.

God’s power is in us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord told the disciples they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Paul prayed for the Ephesians:

Ephesians 3:16 ESV

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,

Over in Romans Paul wrote:

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Conclusion

It was Paul constant prayer for the Colossians that they would be filled with the knowledge and the will of God. Paul knew when Christians were filled and controlled by that knowledge they could walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him. Paul also know more was needed. Yes basic knowledge is better than nothing. But we cannot stop there. We must continue to allow God to teach us through His Word. This week I challenge to open your Bible and read daily. Can I make a suggestion. You can have this done by the time school starts next month, and will take no more than 15 minutes to do. You can do this on your lunch hour. Read the book of John. John helps us get to know Jesus better. Many of us love this book for its beautiful, inspiring language and for the picture it paints of Jesus and the relationship we can have with Him. Now read one chapter every day. As you begin reading, pray over that chapter and your fellow family member's who are reading along with you. Pray that they would be as inspired as you will be. I’ll do the reading right along with you. Those of you who accept the challenge, let talk in about a months time.

We’re about to sing our last song of the morning. Church family, I invite you up to kneel before Jesus and pray for those who you know need His touch. Do you need prayer this morning? I would be happy to pray with you.

Closing Prayer