I haven’t been to church since I don’t remember when
Things were going great til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can’t go hatin’ others who have done wrong to you

Sometimes we get angry but we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do his job, you just pray for them
I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I’d like to

I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you

I’m really glad I found my way to church
Cause I’m already feelin’ better and I thank God for the words
Yeah, I’m gonna take the high road and do what the preacher told me to do
You keep messin’ up, and I’ll keep prayin’ for you

This song entitled “Pray for You” was written by the country artist Jaron and the Long Road to Love. From the way he prays for people, I’m not surprised that he is on the long road to love! Now we all know that this isn’t the way we should pray for people, but have you ever wondered how we should pray for people?

Who do you pray for? What types of things do you pray for? How are we to pray for other people? Well, these questions are answered in today’s text.

Paul continues the introduction of his letter by informing the Colossians how he and Timothy prayed for them. As is often the case with Paul, his prayers proceeded directly from his thanksgiving for them. The initial success of the gospel in Colosse did not make them drift in their prayer efforts for the Colossians; instead it impassioned them!

This passage gives us a glimpse into Paul’s prayer life for this church. It provides an example for how we can pray for people today. Let’s observe how Paul prayed for people!

1.) Pray for People Regularly (9a)

As Paul begins this section, he portrays a wonderful example of persistence in prayer. Since the very day Epaphras arrived at Rome and told Paul and Timothy about how the Colossians received the gospel message and were continually being transformed by it, they “had not stopped praying for them.” In addition to his constant thanksgiving, he added regular intercession for them. Even though this young church was doing well, Paul knew that it needed consistent prayer. Persistent prayer is necessary in times of blessing and success in addition to periods of trial and difficulty!

Paul’s persistent prayer for the Colossians provides a wonderful example for us today. God doesn’t want us to just pray for someone one time and quit. He doesn’t want us to only pray for people when they are experiencing problems; he wants us to regularly pray for people when they are doing well.

Robert E. Lee, the famous Confederate general, once said, “Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray–to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight–all through the day. Let us all pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word ‘concern’ out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice.”

Who do you pray for? Why do you pray for them? How often do you pray for them? Do you pray with persistence?

2.) Pray for People’s Spiritual Development (9b-12)

After Paul tells the Colossians that he is praying for them regularly, he reveals the content of his prayer for them. His primary petition is that they would continue in their spiritual development. He emphasizes the two means by which spiritual development happens: knowing God’s will and doing God’s will.

Knowing God’s Will (9b)

In the second half of verse 9 Paul says that he is asking God to “fill them with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” What Paul has in mind here is not some particular or special direction for one’s life (as we often use the phrase “God’s will”), but a deep and abiding understanding of the revelation of Christ and all that he means for the universe and for the Colossians. This encompasses knowledge of God’s character and how he works in the lives of his people. It suggests the ability to discern truth and to make good decisions based on that truth. (Moo 93) The more someone knows God’s will the more they will develop spiritually.

Likewise, if we want to develop spiritually, we must pray for God’s spirit to give us knowledge of his will and do our part to acquire it. Spiritual wisdom and understanding are gained by reading and studying the Bible, prayer, worshiping and fellowshipping with other believers, etc. These activities assist our knowledge of God’s character and help us make decisions based on God’s truth. All of this facilitates spiritual development!

Saint Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians in the history of the church used to pray, “Bestow upon me, O Lord my God, understanding to know thee, diligence to seek thee, wisdom to find thee, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace thee.”

How is your spiritual development going? How well do you know God’s will? How well do you know God’s character? What percentage of your decisions is based on God’s truth? Are you praying for your own spiritual development? Are you praying for the spiritual development of others?

Doing God’s Will (10-12)

Knowing God’s will is only half of the battle in spiritual development. Doing God’s will is the other half. Knowledge in and of itself is not enough; spiritual development involves a mental, attitudinal, ethical, and behavioral transformation. A proper knowledge of God’s will should always lead into doing God’s will. This is what Paul is getting at in verse 10. The purpose of his prayer is that the Colossians “may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way”—that is that they would be spiritually developed by doing God’s will.

He goes on to list four traits to describe this spiritual development—fruitfulness in ministry, growth in the knowledge of God, strength in endurance and patients, and thankfulness to the Father. Spiritual development is evidenced by a commitment to doing good works and ministering to other people on behalf of Jesus Christ, continued growth in the knowledge of God’s character, strength to patiently endure hardship and persecution, and thankfulness to the Father for the future inheritance of eternal life in heaven. These are four marks of a life that is worthy of the Lord and are ways to please him

In Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, “Prayers won’t help you get out of here any faster.”

Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, “I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God.” Are you doing God’s will? Are you living a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing him in every way? How are you being fruitful in your ministry for Christ? How are you growing in your knowledge of God? Are you using the strength God has given you to patiently endure your hardships? How often do you thank the Father for your inheritance in heaven?

Paul prayed for the Colossians spiritual development! Do you pray for your own spiritual development? Do you pray for the spiritual development of others?

3.) Pray for People as a Response to our Redemption (13-14)

Paul concludes the introduction to his letter by anchoring it in the cross of Jesus Christ. The only reason he could even offer thanksgiving and prayer for the Colossians was because of the redemption they had received from Christ. Just as God rescued and redeemed the Israelites from the darkness of Egypt and gave them their inheritance in the Promised Land, God rescued and redeemed the Colossians from the darkness of their sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and gave them their inheritance in the Kingdom of God.

Like the Colossians, God rescues and redeems us from the dominion of darkness through a faith commitment to Jesus Christ. When Jesus stretched out his hands and feet on the cross, his blood atoned for our sins and paid our spiritual debt. We enjoy some of the benefits of belonging to the kingdom of God now while we wait for our full inheritance in heaven. Christ has liberated us from sin, and we do not have to bear its guilt anymore.

Diane Komp, a pediatric oncologist, tells the story of Arthur, who developed cancer when he was just three years old. He had multiple relapses over a five-year period and was often close to death. His parents were wonderful, she says, patient with his treatment, never losing hope.

One day Arthur’s mother called the doctor to ask something that had been weighing on her for years. She said that in the early years of her marriage, she had an affair and left her husband for another man. She became pregnant by him. When he learned of her pregnancy, he gave her something to swallow in hopes of inducing an abortion. It did not work and he abandoned her.

She returned to her husband, pregnant with Arthur. She asked for and received his forgiveness. He knew the truth but always loved and treated Arthur as his own son. Her question to the oncologist was this: “Do you think the concoction I drank to abort the pregnancy caused the cancer?” Dr. Komp wisely responded that we will never know what caused the cancer. But doctors cannot heal guilt, and the mother suffered for many years with her terrible burden. Deep within her soul she must have felt that her sin caused the suffering of her son.

Arthur’s mother later wrote the doctor that she had grown up in a church that preached forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice, but despite her religious tradition, she had never been able to forgive herself and had rejected the forgiveness that God offered in Jesus. There was no one in her church with whom she felt she could share her burden. When she finally forgave herself, she underlined every passage in her Bible that referred to God’s forgiveness and was amazed that her burden finally lifted. The healing of memories and guilt can sometimes be more difficult than healing cancer.

Can you imagine the guilt that mother carried? Some of us here today carry similar guilt. If you have truly trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, your sins are completely forgiven and you don’t have to carry the guilt anymore. Jesus has rescued and redeemed you from the dominion of darkness! Live in the kingdom of light! The reason we can pray for people is because we have been redeemed!

How should we pray for people? We should pray for them regularly, we should pray for their spiritual development, and we should pray for them as a response to our redemption in Christ! Now that you know how to pray for people, I pray that you will do it!