Praying with Paul: Praying for Each Other
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3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
Tonight, we will continue [Praying with Paul], looking at the subject of [Praying for Each Other].
So far in this series we have read and studied what the Apostle Paul prayed for the churches in the New Testament.
He prayed for the church in Ephesus, a congregation that was very special to him. His time in Ephesus was supernatural and profitable for the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, he wrote to them and prayed for them because he knew them and deeply loved them.
Next, we looked at Paul’s prayers for the Philippian church. The congregation in Philippi possessed deep concern for Paul. They supported him financially and always made sure he had whatever he needed.
He wrote to them and prayed for them from a position of sincere friendship and rejoicing over their relationship.
Now, we look to the book of Colossians. Most scholars believe that he was under house arrest in Rome when a man named Epaphras came to him.
Epaphras was saved under Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. From there he went to Colossae to start a church.
Epaphras would have either traveled 1000 miles or wrote to Paul from 1000 miles away to share his concerns for the Colossian Church.
He relayed to Paul that the new church in Colossae was facing deep trouble in that they were listening to false teachers.
These teachers perverted the Gospel by saying that Jesus was NOT fully God and fully Man. Instead, they taught that he was a lesser being than God but greater than humanity, serving as a bridge from us to God.
Paul had a choice to make with this information. He could have ignored the problem in Colossae. He did not start the church there. He had never visited them. He would not have known anyone there.
Instead, he opted to pray for them. Through prayer, the Holy Spirit inspired him to write to them, correcting their false doctrine, and helping them walk in the fullness of what God had for them.
We should pray God’s will for those who are close to us and those we do not know very well.
What do we pray for those who we either haven’t met or we are acquaintances?
Looking at a few verses in Colossians 1, we will see that we should pray for increased faith, love, and hope. I have three points, [Faith Looks Back], [Love Looks Around], and [Hope Looks Ahead].
Let’s begin
1. Faith Looks Back
1. Faith Looks Back
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
Paul began his letter by focusing on their faith in Christ Jesus. Why would He point out their faith?
First, faith is the foundation of every relationship with God.
What is faith?
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
No one can truly know God without faith.
On a logical side, we have never seen God, we have never personally met God, and we have never talked with God in person.
Every thing we do in our relationship is an act of FAITH.
Why do we need faith?
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Without faith, we cannot please the Lord. We have to have faith.
How can we define faith?
A constant outlook of trust and dependence toward God, or Reliance upon and trust in God.
Paul commended the Colossians for their faith in Christ Jesus. Why did He emphasize faith Christ Jesus?
The false teachers in Colossae emphasized knowledge and minimized faith. Therefore, Paul wanted to remind them why they even came into a relationship with God at the start. Colossae was a pagan city full of witchcraft and magic.
Evidently, when Epaphras shared the Gospel to them, learning about Jesus caused them to turn from their pagan background, accepting a new life in Christ.
They needed to look back at when their faith in Christ began, long before the false teachers sought to pervert truth.
Looking back on what God has done will build our faith and trust in Him.
2. Love Looks Around
2. Love Looks Around
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
One author explains, “faith refers to the vertical component of the Christian life— our trust and reliance on Christ. Love refers to the horizontal—our relationship with other believers” (Life Application Commentary page 141).
When we have real and genuine faith in Jesus, we will love one another.
Remember what John said,
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
When we come to faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters our life, filling us with the love of God.
So Paul commends the Colossians for their love for the saints.
The word love in Scripture is more than a mindset or a feeling. We live in a day where people do not understand true love.
Love is putting the needs of others before our own. That is type of love Jesus showed by dying on the cross for OUR sins.
Therefore, when Paul wrote about the Colossians love for the saints, remember what they were up against, false teachers who lied about God’s love and Jesus’s identity.
It was the love of Jesus that drew the Colossians into faith. Therefore, Paul prayed that they would continue to fall more in love with God and show greater love for each other.
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
If we will fall more in love with Jesus we will have more love for each other.
As we look back and see how Jesus’s sacrifice made a way for us to have faith for salvation, we can then look around and see how we can show God’s love to each other!
I have said this before, but I want to emphasize— as people of the Spirit, we should be the MOST LOVING people around!
If Faith looks back and love looks around, then...
3. Hope Looks Ahead
3. Hope Looks Ahead
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
The word hope is more than a feeling, it means to expect with confidence.
When I order something off the internet and it ships, I do not think, well I have paid for the item, I sure wish it will come, maybe one day they will ship it, and maybe not.
No, once I have paid the price for the item, I have hope, I expect with confidence, that UPS will drive up the hill and deliver my package.
Why do we connect hope so closely with faith?
What is the purpose of faith in God if there is no hope for the future?
Why would we show love to others if it does not matter in the end?
Jesus paid the price for us to have faith in Him, we show love to one another, and now we all look ahead, with hope and confidence that we will spend eternity with the Lord.
We do ourselves a disservice if we get so comfortable here on earth that we lose sight of our hope in heaven.
Paul rejoiced that the Colossians looked ahead in hope for what God will do in and through them, both now and in eternity.
Instead of getting deceived by the false teachers who promoted knowledge and overemphasis on earth, Paul wanted them to keep looking ahead in hope.
Close:
What was Paul to pray for these people he never met?
He knew their situation, in danger of believing false doctrine, so he prayed for God to keep them:
looking back in faith
looking around in love
looking ahead in hope
This was not the only time that Paul emphasized faith, love, and hope. Multiple New Testament writers emphasize these virtues.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,
21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
Faith, hope, and love are like a three-strand cord that ties us to the Lord.
So tonight, I want us to pray for ourselves and pray for each other:
pray for God to increase our faith
pray for God to grow in love
pray for God to build our hope