We Do Not Cease Praying

What should Christians be doing for one another—all the time? We ought to be praying for one another. We ought to be praying for Christians everywhere; our families, our neighbors, our church communities, and for all of our fellow Christians in the rest of the world. Why should we be doing this?

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Life is difficult. We all know this intimately. As Christians we are called, by our faith in God, to live a life completely at odds with the world. This takes knowledge and the courage of a spiritual warrrior. We know that we can not fight the good fight alone. We need both God’s grace and the support of our Christian brothers and sisters to be able to face “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” that come to us unbidden in this world. We know that we often must “take arms against a sea of troubles.” We know that the “arms” we must take up are those of right knowledge, of righteousness and of faith. We know that we must serve the poor and the rejected with our time, our talent and our treasure. We know that we must “turn our cheeks” when we are offered insults, and that we must forgive not just 7 times, but 77 times.

So, we take Paul’s words to the Colossians to our own hearts here and agree with all of our being when he says:

Brothers and sisters: from the day we heard about you, we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with every power, in accord with his generous might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:9-14

So, let all of God’s people pray for one another in the name of Jesus, the Lord. In this we will be fulfilling our duty to God and to our brothers and sisters. Amen!