One can see a simple yet powerful prayer for a successful walk in faith in Colossians 1: 10 to 12, which says, “ And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
Paul writes this epistle to the believers in the Church at Colosse, a city in Asia Minor, from the prison at Rome, around 60 AD. [Colossians 1:2 says “To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse”]
Paul had never ever visited Colosse during his missionary journeys, but the church was established there by Epaphras [1:7 and 4:12] who was from that city, who heard the gospel of salvation from him, who went back to his hometown and shared the message to others there.
The church was established and grew in faith, but soon, by the time Paul wrote this epistle, there was the problem of false teachings which had crept into the church, the body of believers, by the prevailing social and cultural conditions in Asia Minor. The problem was “syncretism”, which means combining ideas from other religions and philosophies, such as paganism, strains of Judaism and Greek thought with Christian truth.
Greece was the cultural capital of Europe and Asia Minor and had the most copious collection of mythology and philosophy in the west. It was only natural that the new believer tries to assimilate what he had heard in the church with the social and cultural knowledge that he had acquired over the years and try to practice a ‘combined’ version of Christianity, leading into heresy.
This heresy became known later as “Gnosticism”, emphasizing special knowledge [gnosis in Greek] and denying Christ as God and Savior.
The Gnostics emphasized rituals, festivals, and important religious gatherings over and above the power of Christ to grant salvation. They cloaked themselves as pious and humble, yet gave extra emphasis on their special knowledge of spiritual realm through worship of angels and other religious paraphernalia that they had carried forward from their Greek culture into the Church of God. [ Colossians 2:16 to 19]
Paul denies the spirituality of the Gnostics and stresses the deity of Jesus and the redemption from sin that Jesus achieved for the sinner by merit of His sacrificial death on the cross.
Even now, in the society around us, we find the strains of Gnosticism at loggerhead with the pure faith in Christ Jesus. When a person is weak from sickness or in need of special prayer in face of a terrible situation that is threatening his very existence, whatever be the reason – educational, spiritual, workplace, home, or with regard to their children- then they come and swear by the power of the prayer of the church and the power released by a Christians’ prayer which can wrought a miracle. But once the answer comes, then they start arguments about whether it is this prayer of the poor Christian which was effective or whether it was the offering that was made in the local temple or to a special saint that has given them the much-awaited deliverance.
So here, Paul is praying for the church and for the faithful believers; as the spiritual head of the church, we would expect him to pray for abundant blessings which are material such as prosperity, peace, social standing, riches, and wealth and honor… but on the contrary, Paul prays for the believers faith, his faith life, the source of a believers’ spiritual power and the vital importance of his knowledge of God and the inestimable inheritance that a believer obtains in eternity by faith.
The power of a Christian is the power of Resurrection, the power of the Holy Spirit who raised up Jesus from the tomb. The power of a Christain is the power of creation that created the universe and the earth and everything in it by God’s Word. The power of a Christain is the power released into the spiritual realm that changes the circumstances and the surroundings of the believer upon the use of the name of JESUS.
JESUS: “ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth.” [Colossians 1: 15 and 16]
This is one of the most powerful statements about the divine nature of Jesus Christ found anywhere in the Bible. He is not only equal to God , but He is God; as the image of the invisible God, He is the exact representation of God; as the firstborn over all creation, He has the absolute power and authority just like the firstborn prince in a kings’ palace.
A believer who is rooted in faith in Him just has to ask and receive the answer, if the request is in accordance with the plan of God and as per God’s will.
I added here the italics because many times, our prayer requests may not be exactly according to God’s plan or God’s will. For example, if we take the life of Joseph given in the book of Genesis 37 to 50, Joseph would have prayed earnestly for deliverance from the bottom of the pit into which his brothers, who hated him, had thrown him; if God had delivered him then and there, Joseph would have gone back to his fathers’ house and back into his mothers’ kitchen and lead a life at ease and free from pain – but God’s plan and purpose for him would have been unfulfilled.
My dear friend, do you know God’s plan for you? Do you know Gods’ purpose when He created you?
The Bible says, “before you were created in your mother’s womb, I knew you” [ Jeremiah 1:4]. God knew us ! He knew what we are going to do….knew where we would be born, what we will become; He knew our life and future, He knew our children and children’s children….He knows our failures and our weaknesses and our life lies open before Him like a book.
John 1: 12 says about a believer’s new status in the eyes of God vis-à-vis Jesus, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God”.
Can we take a rational look at lives today, and take a second look at what we are in God’s eyes and what He wants us to be and take a decision: “God, I want to be one of Your children”.
When you become a child of God, do not forget that the blessing that you get naturally extends to your family, to your husband, to your wife and your children.
Can we deny such a privilege and blessing that comes without any material cost to our dear ones? All it takes is faith in JESUS as Son of God.
I pray that the Holy Spirit may help you in your faith walk in the days to come.
