Praying for Others 📖

Week 2 Small Group (Monday). Focusing on Colossians 1:9-14.

We all know how important a strong prayer life is to a disciple, but do we pray for others?

Paul prays for the Colossians in these verses. What's truly remarkable is that this is a group he doesn’t know personally and that he writes this from a prison in Rome. He first prays for the Colossians to be filled with knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual understanding (v9). 👩🏼‍🎓

1. Deep and thorough biblical knowledge (read Ephesians 4:13-14)

2. Wisdom, not only accumulated knowledge but organised and discerned over, and

3. Spiritual understanding, to apply what we learned into your daily life

Paul’s prayer request (v10-11), is for the Colossians to lead a life worthy of the Gospel. A life that is aligned to the Lord that saved them. He then prays for them to be fruitful, to be productive disciples. Finally, he prays for them to be strong. 💪🏽 This is so that they can have endurance and patience against trials resulting from their circumstances and also from people, (link to what we learned about trials in James 1:1-11).

Paul closes with thanks to God for all that He has done in qualifying the Colossians through Christ. For it is He who has delivered us from darkness, provided us with an inheritance as part of His kingdom. For we have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus. Our sins have been forgiven through the gift of grace that is the cross. ➕

Keeping the thinking going…

Over the next few days write down 10 things that you are thankful to God for. 📝

Make a list of people that you want to pray for. Perhaps take the time to insert people you know into Paul’s prayer. Keep the list of people handy, e.g. next to the PC, in the car, on the coffee table, somewhere you’ll be able to see it regularly. And pray for them. 🙏🏻