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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
800 Minutes of Prayer
As Easter quickly comes this week I want to bring before you a challenge. I do not want to let Easter go by without giving attention to praying for people that God would have us reach as a fellowship. So the challenge is this. Bringing forth eight hundred minutes of prayer for our service, for our community and for our selves. You may ask how can we pull off eight hundred minutes of prayer in the next few days. I am glad you asked. We have about 40 people committed to our launch team. If every person commits to praying just ten minutes this week focusing in on what I stated above and invite one person to do the same with them we would reach the eight hundred minutes.
There some people reading this who are not a part of the launch team but would love to commit to this time of prayer with us. I want to invite you to do so. I only ask that you use the comments button below and let me know how many minutes you are covering. I would love to see us go over a thousand minutes.
Please use Colossians 1:9-15 to help lead you in this time of prayer. It will not lead you in a way that you may think but I believe the results of hearing what Paul has to say about prayer will help us grow.
Pray that we discern God's Will
Notice that Paul's first request is this: I ask that "God fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." The word "fill" means to be completely filled or totally controlled. The word for knowledge is the normal Greek word for knowledge with a prefix that intensifies the meaning. Paul's primary concern is not for physical health, material prosperity, effective witnessing, or a greater experience of spiritual gifts. Paul's first and primary concern is that the Colossians come to love and understand God and submit to His will.
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane He sought to submit to the will of the Father. Many of us have turned this around. We spend our time pleading with God that MY will would be done. We want God to give us what WE want. We want Him to see the wisdom of our desires. Some even proclaim that praying, "Thy will be done" is a weak prayer. All I can say to such nonsense is, "tell that to Jesus."
We come to understand God's will as we come to understand God. In our marriage relationships we very often can tell you what our spouse will say to a certain request. How can we do this? We have come to understand our mate. We know what they like and don't like. We have a good idea of what their "will" is. The same is true of God.
We understand his plan and purpose in life as we come to know Him in the Bible, through prayer and through our obedience. Paul prays that the Colossians would not be satisfied with a superficial relationship with God. He prays that they would continue to build a relationship with Him until they understand what God is doing and why.
Pray that we DO God's Will
Paul does not only pray that the Colossians are able to discern God's will. He prays also that they might have the power to DO God's will. In verse 10 we read that Paul prayed that they might understand "in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way." Paul is not praying just that we might be more knowledgeable . . .He is praying that we might learn more about God so that we will live more faithfully before Him. As one wise person said, "you can be a master of theology and a failure at living."
Paul is seeking balance in the lives of these young Christians. He prays that they might understand . . . and when they have understood, that they might live on the basis of that understanding.
Do you see how much different the content of this prayer is from the prayers we often pray? When you pray for others are you "aiming low?" Are you asking the Lord for superficial things and neglecting the greater things? Are you focusing on the temporary and neglecting the eternal? Dare we spend all our time focusing on the body and no time focusing on the soul?
There some people reading this who are not a part of the launch team but would love to commit to this time of prayer with us. I want to invite you to do so. I only ask that you use the comments button below and let me know how many minutes you are covering. I would love to see us go over a thousand minutes.
Please use Colossians 1:9-15 to help lead you in this time of prayer. It will not lead you in a way that you may think but I believe the results of hearing what Paul has to say about prayer will help us grow.
Pray that we discern God's Will
Notice that Paul's first request is this: I ask that "God fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." The word "fill" means to be completely filled or totally controlled. The word for knowledge is the normal Greek word for knowledge with a prefix that intensifies the meaning. Paul's primary concern is not for physical health, material prosperity, effective witnessing, or a greater experience of spiritual gifts. Paul's first and primary concern is that the Colossians come to love and understand God and submit to His will.
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane He sought to submit to the will of the Father. Many of us have turned this around. We spend our time pleading with God that MY will would be done. We want God to give us what WE want. We want Him to see the wisdom of our desires. Some even proclaim that praying, "Thy will be done" is a weak prayer. All I can say to such nonsense is, "tell that to Jesus."
We come to understand God's will as we come to understand God. In our marriage relationships we very often can tell you what our spouse will say to a certain request. How can we do this? We have come to understand our mate. We know what they like and don't like. We have a good idea of what their "will" is. The same is true of God.
We understand his plan and purpose in life as we come to know Him in the Bible, through prayer and through our obedience. Paul prays that the Colossians would not be satisfied with a superficial relationship with God. He prays that they would continue to build a relationship with Him until they understand what God is doing and why.
Pray that we DO God's Will
Paul does not only pray that the Colossians are able to discern God's will. He prays also that they might have the power to DO God's will. In verse 10 we read that Paul prayed that they might understand "in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way." Paul is not praying just that we might be more knowledgeable . . .He is praying that we might learn more about God so that we will live more faithfully before Him. As one wise person said, "you can be a master of theology and a failure at living."
Paul is seeking balance in the lives of these young Christians. He prays that they might understand . . . and when they have understood, that they might live on the basis of that understanding.
Do you see how much different the content of this prayer is from the prayers we often pray? When you pray for others are you "aiming low?" Are you asking the Lord for superficial things and neglecting the greater things? Are you focusing on the temporary and neglecting the eternal? Dare we spend all our time focusing on the body and no time focusing on the soul?
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