Being Steadfast Believers

For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, HAVE NOT CEASED TO PRAY and make special request for you, asking that you may be filled with the full deep and clear knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things. Col 1:9

Paul confirms several times throughout this text in Colossians that he was unceasingly in prayer for them. He mentions how Epaphras in Col 4:12 was also "STRIVING for you EARNESTLY in his PRAYERS, pleading that you may as persons of ripe character and clear conviction stand firm and mature in spiritual growth, convinced and fully assured in everything willed by God."

Be EARNEST and UNWEARIED and STEADFAST in your PRAYER LIFE, being both ALERT and INTENT in your praying with thanksgiving. Col 4:2

Paul established that they were in prayer, so obviously this was important to him to be in prayer for his fellow believers as is expressed in other of Paul's writings. If it was important to Paul (and it was) then it should be important to us as well.

Then we need to look at WHAT was so important that he was praying so earnestly and steadfastly for? If you look at the scriptures above again (and the whole book of Col) you will see that Paul was completely consumed with his desire to see the people be successful in their growth, expressing the importance and fervour of our need to continually be growing and come into deeper insight and revelation of God and relationship with Him. In verse 28-29 he says...

Him we preach and proclaim, warning and admonishing everyone and instructing everyone in all wisdom, comprehensive insight into the way and purposes of God, that we may present every person mature full grown, fully initiated, complete and perfect in Christ the Anointed One. For this I labor unto weariness, striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me. 

My heart has been heavy as I hear news of happenings around us in our North American Church of such things as worship leaders sleeping with their boyfriends on the weekends, a Pastor living with his girlfriend after leaving his wife and children of many years, alcohol use and partying, etc... all in the name of grace and being accepted by believers as the new norm. It makes me so mad at the devil to twist the message of God's grace to steep to such base carnality and lusts of the flesh.

"Grace is a license to live Holy" -Sarah Pearsons

I echo Sarah's quote!

So kill, deaden, deprive of power the evil desire lurking in your members, those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed, covetousness, for that is idolatry.... It is on account of these very sins that the holy anger of God is ever coming upon the sons of disobedience, those who are apposed to the divine will. Col 3:5-6

Let us be in prayer for our families and fellow believers to not get caught up in these manmade teachings and ideas, and that we all will continue to grow in the knowledge our Lord. 

As Paul taught and prayed...

Have the roots of your being firmly and deeply planted in Him, fixed and founded in Him, being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving. See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit idle fancies and plain nonsense following human tradition, mens ideas.... Col 2:7-8

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