A call to Christ-centred prayer
Colossians 1:1-14
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Paul is committed to prayer for the church in Colossae. He begins his letter by noting that when they pray, they thank God for the faith of the church in Colossae (v3). Further on, they pray that God would fill the church with knowledge of His will so they may live lives worthy and pleasing to Him (v9-12).
This passage reminds me of the importance of thanksgiving and prayer to God. Christ is the centre of our faith, and Paul reminds the church to recognise that God is the source of virtues such as faith in God and love for one another.
I’m also challenged by Paul’s zeal to pray for the church to live in a way that honours God, and for their knowledge and wisdom to become practical and transformational. Would we each pray for one another to bear Godly fruit in every good work, grow in the knowledge of God, be strengthen with power from the Holy Spirit, and to be thankful to God in all things.
Lord, thank you for the great encouragement that comes from doing life in Christian community. Thank you that you are the centre of our faith, and through you our lives are transformed. Please help us to remember to have a posture of gratitude towards you, Lord, and help us to uphold one another in payer so that our faith would endure. Amen.
Written by Ps. Andie Molteno