Pray Without Ceasing

 Happy Sunday!

Colossians 1:9-14 says, "Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you.
This is what we pray:
 - that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need;
 - that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way;
 - that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God;
 - that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come. 
Then you will be HAPPY and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins."(Easy-to-Read Version).

What a thoughtful prayer.  We don't have to reinvent prayer we can follow the Biblical examples.  The Apostle Paul had heard great things about the Believers in Colossae and wrote a letter to encourage and instruct them.  Isn't it wonderful to know that someone is praying for you?  Even Jesus prayed for us and the Bible says He's still praying for us, "But Christ, because he lives for ever, possesses a priesthood that needs no successor. This means that he can save fully and completely those who approach God through him, for he is always living to INTERCEDE on their behalf."(Hebrew 7:25 Phillips).

Who are you praying for? Did you know we are commanded to pray? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Continually be prayerful."(ISV).  Because we have faith we can pray with confidence. Hebrews 11:6 says, "It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he EXISTS and that he CARES enough to respond to those who seek him."(Message).  1 John 5:14-15 reassures us that our prayers will be successful, "We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him."(Easy-to-Read Version). 

Love and prayers, Cynthia