Sanctified by the Cross

11 May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. – Colossians 1:11-12 Sometimes we need prayed for. We often need prayed for more often then we think we do.  If you are not used to it, being prayed for can feel awkward, uncomfortable, even wrong, rather than it being the breath of fresh air that is should be. That is often because we have a hard time realizing or admitting our need for God to be at work in us.  Here Paul prays for the believers living in the crossroads town of Colossae.   He asks God to grant them certain things that they (and we like them) need.  He has just previously asked that God would grant them knowledge of his will, spiritual wisdom, understanding, and the ability to walk in a manner worthy of Jesus Christ (vs 9-10).  His hope is that they bear fruit and grow....

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  19   For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  20   For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope  21   that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  22   For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  23   And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  24   For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  25   But if we hope for what we do not see, w...

9  And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10  so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10  What if you could only make one request of God? What has been the most recurring or most desperate plea from your heart lately? What is the thing that you want God to do the most? The reality is, what we pray for reveals our heart. What we most desire for God to do reveals what we think is most important.  Some of us may struggle to pray at all.  That too reveals our heart. Not praying it reveals that we think we have it handled on our own, that God doesn’t care, that he can’t or won’t help us. None of those things are true and yet that is what we believe when we do not pray or avoid praying for certain things. If and w...