10 days in Colossians – day 9
I’ve started, so I’ll finish
Think about Colossians 2:1-3
This letter is an excellent example of Paul’s attitude towards people he had never met. “I want you to know how much I’m struggling for you” he said. And he uses a strong word here, the kind of vocabulary we might use of an athlete doing high intensity interval training (HIIT).
Like Paul, we will be ministering to people we have never met and I want to encourage you to copy him and go into spiritual training on their behalf. Battles are won and lost in prayer and I fully expect you will see the results of your intercession when you get out there on the ground.
Paul prays that they will be ‘encouraged’ – in other words they will have courage where otherwise they might have been timid – and we will need a dose of that.
He also asks God to unite them in love which all sounds very pleasant and cosy, but this is unity with a distinct purpose. He describes it as ‘having the full riches of complete understanding’ and ‘knowing the mystery of God – i.e. Christ’
Praying for his unknown friends now paves the way for God to work in powerful ways when they would eventually meet.
So Paul’s prayer for these, as yet, unknown Christians is expansive and and intense. He wants to forge a bond with them before he even meets them.
How about praying like that?
Prayer
Praise God for his consistency and his unchanging character.
Admit: Is there anything I need to confess to him today?
Come: Bring your requests to him now – especially pray for …
Thank: What particular things can you thank him for today?