How To Pray for Others (and Yourself)

From congregational readings in Proverbs 26-31, Jun 15, 08 – bk@kluth.org

Col 1:9-14 We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Pray they…

1 - Be rescued

Col 1:13-14 He has rescued us (drawn us out) from the dominion (power, jurisdiction) of darkness (the shadows) and brought (carried, transported) us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Eph 2:1-2 You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

2 - Grow in the knowledge of God

Col 1:10 Growing in the knowledge of God. Col 1:9 Asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Rom 12:1-2 Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.^NLT

3 - Live a life worthy of the Lord

Col 1:10 Live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way.

Col 1:16 All things were created by him and for him. Mark 12:28-31 Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

4- Bear fruit in every good work

Col 1:10 Bearing fruit in every good work

John 15:8 When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.^AMP

5 - Be strengthened with God’s power

Col 1:11-12 …being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

2 Chron 16:9 The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

2 Cor 4:14-18 We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence…Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

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DAILY BIBLE READINGS: This week read 1 Tim 2-6, Ps 45-46