The Service of Prayer
Dearly beloved of God, Colossians gives us a wonderful example of how we should pray. We should imitate the example of those we read about in the Church epistles that served God before us.
Colossians 1:3-14 A Journey through the Acts and Epistles, Walter J. Cummins
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying continually for you
4 since we heard of your believing in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the holy ones
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You previously heard of that [hope] in the Word of the truth of the gospel
6 that came to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in all the world, even so it is also [bearing fruit and growing] in you since the day in which you heard and knew about [acknowledged] the grace of God in truth,
7 even as you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ for you,
8 and he related to us your love in the spirit.
9 For this reason, we also, from the day in which we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and to make request that you might be filled with the knowledge [acknowledgment] of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding
10 with the result that you walk worthily of the Lord with the desire to be pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge [acknowledgment] of God,
11 being empowered with all power according to His glorious strength in all patience and long-suffering with joy,
12 giving thanks to the Father, Who made us competent for a part in the share of the holy [sanctified] ones in the light.
13 He delivered us from the authority of darkness, and He transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins
How often did Paul pray for them? Continually.
What did he pray? He prayed that they might be filled with the acknowledgement of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they might walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing. He prayed that they would bear fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God.
Dearly beloved, we ought to consider the inspired prayers in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians among the other prayers recorded in the Church epistles so that we can learn what we should be praying for in our prayers.
Prayer is essential if we want to see God’s Word live in our day and time. We should pray for one another continually. We should follow the example of those who came before us, and serve by praying for one another.
As children worked with their fathers in the family business in the lands and times of the Bible, we work with God our Father in His family business today.
Psalm 123:1 and 2
Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou That dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress: So our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, Until that He have mercy upon us.
Follow Epaphras’ example. “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” Colossians 4:12
Epaphras, “always laboring fervently for you in prayers.” Dearly beloved, why not serve as he did?