Colossians 1.3-Paul and Timothy Offered Up Thanksgiving to the Father for the Faithful Believers in Colossae
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday January 4, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:3-Paul and Timothy Offered Up Thanksgiving to the Father for the Faithful Believers in Colossae
Lesson # 6
Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. (NASB95)
“We give thanks” is the verb eucharisteō (εὐχαριστέω), which is used in reference to Paul’s thanksgiving in prayer to the Father for the faithful believers in Colossae.
Paul was constantly offering thanksgiving to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ for them during his prayers.
The verb eucharisteō is modified by the adverb of time pantote which is used with reference to prayer.
Specifically, the word is used with reference to Paul’s thanksgiving in prayer to the Father for these faithful Christians located in the city of Colossae.
The word refers again to Paul’s perseverance in prayer.
The adverb of time answers the question, “when or how often does Paul offer thanksgiving to God the Father for these faithful Christians in Colossae?”
This means that Paul continues to offer thanksgiving to God the Father “always” in his prayers for the faithful Christians in Colossae.
The first person plural form of this verb refers to both Paul and Timothy.
The present tense of the verb eucharisteō is a retroactive progressive present tense indicating that Paul offered up thanksgiving to God the Father “in the past” for the faithful believers in Colossae and “continued” to do so into the present when he wrote this epistle to them.
This present tense can also be interpreted as a customary present, which is used to signal a regularly occurring action indicating that Paul and Timothy continued to “regularly” or “make it their habit of” giving thanks to the Father for these faithful Christians in Colossae during their prayers.
“Praying...for you” is composed of the following: (1) preposition peri (περί), “concerning” (2) personal pronoun su (σύ) (see), “you” (3) verb proseuchomai (προσεύχομαι), “praying.”
Proseuchomai refers to Paul’s intercessory prayer to the Father on behalf of the faithful believers in Colossae but without reference to the fact that it is intercessory.
The present tense of the verb proseuchomai is a customary present used to signal an action that is to regularly occur indicating that Paul and Timothy “made it their habit of” interceding in prayer to the Father on behalf of these faithful Christians in Colossae.
The middle voice of the verb is intensive which indicates that Paul and Timothy made it their habit of “occupying themselves” with intercessory prayer to the Father on behalf of these faithful believers in Colossae.
The participle form of the verb proseuchomai is a temporal participle which indicates that Paul and Timothy continued to make it their habit of giving thanks to the Father always “when” they made it their habit of occupying themselves in prayer on behalf of these faithful Colossian Christians.
The personal pronoun su means “all of you” referring to these faithful Colossian believers as a corporate unit.
It is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every one of you” emphasizing that Paul was praying for all of these Christians without exception.
It functions as the object of the preposition peri, which functions as a marker of benefaction to another meaning it is marking these faithful believers in Colossae as benefiting from Paul and Timothy’s intercessory prayer to the Father.
Colossians 1:3 We continue making it our habit of giving thanks to God namely the Father of our Lord, who is Jesus, who is the Christ when we make it our habit of occupying ourselves with praying on behalf of each and every one of you as a corporate unit. (Author’s translation)
Notice in Colossians 1:3, the apostle Paul informs the Colossians that he and Timothy prayed to the Father and not the Lord Jesus Christ.
The reason for this is that Jesus Christ Himself taught that there is a protocol to prayer.
He taught His disciples that they were to pray to the Father in His name by the power of the Spirit.
Just as there is only one way for salvation, which is through faith in Jesus Christ, so also there is only one way to pray.
First and foremost in God’s protocol for prayer, the believer-priest must address God the Father in prayer (John 14:13-14; 16:23-27; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 2:18; 3:14; 5:20; Col 1:3, 12; 3:17; 1 Peter 1:17; Revelation 1:6).
When the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ asked Him how to pray, His response was, “pray to your Father” (Mat 6:6).
While many Christians today may argue otherwise, Scriptures clearly dictate God’s protocol for prayer.
Prayer that is not addressed to the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Spirit is not heard because it is not done according to God’s protocol.
The apostle Paul taught the churches, throughout the Roman Empire, to address the Father in prayer (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6; Eph 2:18; 3:14; Col 1:3; 1:12).
The apostle Peter also stated that prayer was to be addressed to the Father.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught that prayer must be made in His name or His person, since He is the intermediary to the Father (John 14:13; 15:16; 16:23, 26; Eph 5:20; Col 3:17).
Finally, prayer must be made by the power of the Spirit or by means of the filling of the Spirit (Jude 20).
This is accomplished by praying in accordance to the Word of God.
Notice in Colossians 1:3 that Paul states that he thanked the Father “of our Lord Jesus Christ” which expresses the unique relationship between the Father and Jesus Christ.
It expresses the intimate relationship between the Father and Jesus Christ and that the latter is equal to the former.
Colossians 1:3 indicates that thanksgiving was an integral part of the apostle Paul’s prayer life and Timothy’s and demonstrates their great appreciation for other believers who have been so gracious to them throughout his ministry.
One of the characteristics of a productive prayer life is that of thankfulness (Matt 15:36; 26:27; Mark 8:6; 14:23; Luke 22:17-19; John 6:11; 23; 11:41; Acts 27:35; 28:15; Rom. 1:8; 7:25; 1 Cor. 1:4; 11:24; Eph. 5:20; Col. 1:12; 3:17; Phlp. 1:3-4; 4:6; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13).
Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. (NASB95)
In Colossians 1:3, “always” speaks of Paul’s perseverance in prayer on behalf of each and every one of these faithful Colossian believers.
One of the characteristics of an effective prayer life is perseverance (Matt. 26:39-44; Luke 11:9-10; 18:1-8; 21:36; Rom. 12:12; 15:30; Acts 1:14; 6:4; 12:5; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 5:5; 2 Tim. 1:3; Col. 1:9; 4:2, 12; Heb. 10:22).
Matthew 7:7 Ask repeatedly, and it will be given to you; seek repeatedly, and you will find; knock continuously, and it will be opened to you. (Author’s translation)
Colossians 1:3 reveals that prayer was a habitual activity for Paul and thus should be for all Christians.
He informs these faithful Christians in Colossae that he and Timothy made it their habit of occupying themselves with praying for each and every one of them as a corporate unit.
They made it a habitual part of their prayer life to thank the Father for them which is an excellent example for all pastors to follow as well as all Christians.