A Faithful Community – Colossians 1:1-15
Part II
Intercessory Prayer: The Lifeline of a Church
Paul opens this short yet most significant letter with a prayer of
thanksgiving for the saints. As a means
of ensuring the Colossians that they definitively possess the salvation
promised to them in Christ, Paul emphasizes hope throughout the prayer. This theme models the spiritual discipline of
intercessory prayer in which we lift the concerns of our fellow believers to
God. Actually, this continual remembrance
of fellow saints enables them to live with integrity. Prayer is one of the most effective means of
receiving the power of Almighty God. It
resembles stopping at the gas station when your car is running on empty. Most probably, it is impossible for a
believer to live consistently in accord with Christ’s example without daily
prayer.
Although this passage records an eloquent prayer, it contains several
major theological and practical matters for daily Christian living. Beyond their newfound faith, love for the
saints and hope “stored up for you in heaven,” Paul revels in the “the word of
truth, the gospel that has come to [the Colossians.]” He implies that they have heard the orthodox
message concerning the life, ministry, teachings, death, and resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ. In the sixth
verse, he mentions that the gospel is “bearing fruit and growing” all over the
then known world. As a consequence, it
is most necessary that the saints parallel their lives with their witness. More specifically, Paul means the whole Roman Empire by “the whole world.” His reference reflects the rapid-fire spread
of the gospel. Lest the message become
tainted with hypocrisy, syncretism and indifference, the apostle prays that the
Church at Colosse will accept the moral requirements and ethical duties of a
Christian.
In the ninth verse, Paul defines more straightforwardly his themes of
persistent intercessory prayer, living a Christ-like life, and receiving the
empowerment of the Holy Spirit to do so.
Paul does not stop asking God to reveal to them His will; give them
spiritual wisdom and yield practical understanding. These three objectives of prayer suffice for
us just as they did for the Colossians.
We need those spiritual attributes as we strive to honor the Lord in
each sphere of life. Then, he details
the purpose of “a life worthy of the Lord [that] may please Him in every
way.” Such generates fruit for the
kingdom, good works that glorify the Lord and grows in the knowledge of
God. A genuinely yielded and obedient
life offered to the honor Christ will bring more people into the kingdom of God than any grandiloquent sermon. St. Francis
of Assisi posits that we should preach the gospel, using words if we have to do
so. A faithful disciple does the work of
Christ to please Him. He or she does not
worry about whether anyone is looking.
Through good deeds, he or she shares the love of Christ which touches
the heart of unbelievers and compels their belief in due time. It stands to reason that committed believers
develop personally and grow spiritually.
They obtain a greater revelation of their uniqueness and calling as
Christians and they receive deeper spiritual insights as they make Christ their
“Ultimate Concern.”
Intercessory prayer strengthens believers with the power of the Holy
Spirit. Literally, it translates into
divine dynamite which in turns blows up the hindrances to a faithful life. This power emerges from God’s “glorious
might.” Furthermore, this divine grace
equips believers with endurance, patience, joy and thanksgiving. All of these traits combine to allow the
average believer to live to the honor and glory of Christ with integrity.
The Practical Approaches and Goals of Intercessory Prayer
Gathering for intercessory prayer in a church equates with athletic
teams attending practice sessions.
Regardless of their talent and abilities, sport teams must drill
themselves, memorize their plays, rehearse defenses and perfect offenses with
the goal of refining their skills. They
do so with the intent of ensuring that they win each game. Superlative athletes and teams insist that
the daily discipline of showing up for practice is the secret to their
successes and winning streaks. From
Tiger Woods to Venus Williams to Serena Williams to the multiple championships Chicago Bulls and many
others, the dogged determination and unwavering discipline of practice explains
their stellar achievements and sweet triumphs.
In the same way, the Church ought to gather for intercessory prayer so that
they might experience unfathomable power and grace of Almighty God. I believe that each member of a Church can
know confidently his or her purpose in life, discern the spiritual gifts with
which he or she has been divinely empowered, discover the daily grace of God to
utilize these gifts and actualize his or her potential to the honor and glory
of our Lord. However, such monumental
feats will not occur in a Church that does not prioritize prayer. Very unfortunately, prayer meeting and Bible
study are the least attended services in any Church. Not surprisingly, the Church maintains a
losing streak as it relates to defeating sin, sickness, fear and myriad
adversities that befall disciples. The
failure to gather to cultivate the practice of intercessory simply and most
reliably clarifies the Church’s impotence in response to its many challenges.
Whereas the Apostle Paul offers this powerful prayer for the Church at
Colosse, he embeds some very practical approaches and goals for intercessory
prayer in this first chapter. Since he
first learned of the faith and formation of the Colossian Church,
Paul begins praying fervently for these new believers. Thereby, he reminds us of the importance of
interceding for new converts. We pray
that the Word of God takes root on fertile soil of the heart. Further, we pray that the worries of life and
the temptations of their lives before Christ will not prevent their growth as
believers; simply we ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen them so that they will
not regress and backslide. Then, Paul
prays that God fills the Colossians with knowledge of “His will through all
spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
This petition defines more concretely Paul’s goals for the spiritual
development of these new disciples, specifically, and for recent converts,
generally. They should begin to seek
earnestly the will of God in all matters.
This spiritual quest in turn yields spiritual wisdom and understanding instead
of the previous secular, humanistic and worldly outlook that they had. They begin to divest themselves of
self-seeking priorities; instead, they genuinely desire to know the will of
God. Moreover, they cease self-reliance
and grow towards a genuine reliance upon Almighty God. In the words of Proverbs, they stop depending
upon their own understanding; rather they faithfully acknowledge the Lord Jesus
Christ in all matters, knowing that He will direct their paths. Yet, Paul posits that the daily practice of
the spiritual discipline of prayer is central to the long-term maturity of new
believers.
