Praying for the Faith of Others

Colossians 1:3-14 (ESV)

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints; the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, 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.

Notes on the Scripture

Colossians 1:9 tells us, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.”

I wonder how many times we hear of someone being saved, or see someone saved, and we never pray for that person. In my own life, I know how strong the enemy comes against us, once we decide to give our hearts to Jesus. You see, before you make that decision, Satan doesn't really mess with you too much, because he knows he already has you.

Once you become a child of God, He sends all kinds of demons after you, illness, deaths in the family, financial burdens, temptations, to name a few. A new person in God, is weak, like a new born baby. They need milk, the word of God. They need prayer from Christians who are strong in the word, to help them fight off all that Satan throws at them. We need to continually ask God to fill them with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.

How many people do you know, that you could pray this prayer for? They don't even have to be a new Christian, they could just still be weak and struggling to be what God wants them to be. God, forgive me where I have failed you in this. Help me to be a stronger Christian, so I can pray for others and help them grow stronger in you.