Praying Always For You (Colossians #9)

Text: Colossians 1:3

…praying always for you.

Prayer items

1:3 giving thanks
- What you are thankful for says a lot about your relationship with the Lord.
- Paul is thankful for their faith, love toward the saints, and hope laid up in heaven.
- Most professing Christians get more excited about a sports event, a sale, a movie, a celebrity than they do what God is doing.
  - Now, those same folks would philosophically agree that Jesus Christ dying for sins is of greater importance than a baseball game. But, when the opportunity presents itself to tell someone else about Jesus Christ dying on the cross for their sins or a baseball game, that same churchgoer will choose the game.
  - That’s because those who profess Christianity regularly subject themselves to the world’s influence while denying its influence.
  - Sure we love the Lord, but if you think we’re going to spend more time with a book that we claim to be true and the source of life and light than with our video games and sports, you’re out of your mind.
4:12 …ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
- This is the prayer that the Colossians would be perfect and complete, so not lacking anything in their service to God.
- Matthew 19:20 …what lack I yet… Covetousness was robbing this young man of his ability to participate in eternal life.
- Colossians 2:10 …complete in him…

…always…
This means the Father’s throne is always available by the Lord Jesus Christ
pray without ceasing it means God is listening without ceasing.
Veil has been torn down. The opportunity in Jesus Christ is wide open now.
- Hebrews 4:15-16
- The Old Testament illustration of this in the high priest in Exodus 30:1-8. Jesus Christ is the high priest.
Weakness of the flesh
- Disciples told to pray in the garden so they will not enter into temptation. Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
- Your flesh convinces you prayer is not worth it.

…for you.
Like high priest entering holy place with the names of the tribes of Israel on the breastplate.
Dispatch laborers like in Acts with Peter and Cornelius, Paul at Philippi; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send forth laborers.