Praying For Others
How often do you pray for other people?
Verse of the Day
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.
Today’s Devotional
We are going to spend some time looking at verses from the book of Colossians. This book was written by Paul, from prison in Rome, to a church in Colossae that he had never visited. Paul sent a fellow believer, Epaphrus, to tell the people of Colossae the good news of Jesus. Many became believers, and most were Gentiles. Later, when Epaphrus was also imprisoned in Rome, he told Paul about this group of believers and some of their struggles. The Jewish Christians were trying to make the Gentile Christians conform to the old Jewish law and keep all of the old traditions. They were also adding extra rules and some false teachings. Paul’s letter to the Colossians is to encourage them that Jesus is all they need. Within these teachings, Paul writes many things that apply to us today in our everyday faith journey.
I love how Paul is always telling these groups of believers how much he prays for them. It convicts me that I don’t pray for others enough. I get too consumed with my own life. But what a beautiful prayer to pray for others…that they would have complete knowledge of God’s will.
What about spiritual wisdom and understanding? Do you pray for those things? I pray for those things for myself, but I don’t pray for these things for others nearly enough.
Here’s the thing about this book of the Bible. It encourages me to look only to God for my direction and decisions. It makes me incredibly grateful to have the written Word of God. I can look at it as often as I want and study it to discern God’s will. In Bible times, most (or all) spiritual teaching came from other humans with regard to Jesus and the new covenant. So how were they to know and remember what to believe? How great it must have been to receive this letter from Paul to help these new believers in their spiritual journey.
Who walks with you on your journey to spiritual wisdom? If it is only other humans, I would encourage you otherwise. We are all sinful and broken. We all need Jesus. If anyone is preaching rules over love, that’s not Jesus. The Bible is such a gift to us today. Are we taking advantage of God’s written Word?
If we are to live out our faith each day, it appears that praying for others should be a frequent part of our prayer life. Why? Because it reaffirms how we are to live our lives in an others-focused manner. Because praying for others gets us out of our own way. Because we are following the example set by Paul. Because it is kind and loving. My guess is that as we pray for others to have complete knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding, we will gain some of those things for ourselves in the process.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Today, choose one person in your life and write a prayer for them to have knowledge of God’s will for their life, that they will have the power to carry that out, that they will have spiritual wisdom and understanding. Make today’s journal all about someone that is on your heart.
Send a text, write an email, make a call. Tell someone that you are praying for them and what, specifically, you are praying for.
How can you express your gratitude for the Bible?
Who is on your spiritual journey with you? How can you pray for that person (or people)?