Praying for one another
Read: Colossians 1:1-14
Background: The letter states to be authored by Paul together with Timothy to the church in Colossae, a town in southwestern modern Turkey near Laodicea. Paul may have never been there (Col 1:4) and probably wrote this letter while in prison to insist on the preeminence of Christ and on its practical relevance for Christian ethics, against the backdrop of early Gnostic tendencies to instead worship angels. An early date before 60AD is also likely because the town later was severely damaged in an earthquake and is not mentioned anymore among the seven churches in Asia Minor.
1) Why did Paul start with giving thanks, and for what (vv1-5)?
- v4: Why did Paul thank God rather than the Christians themselves for their love and faith in Jesus, and what difference does it make?
- v5: In what sense is hope ‘laid up for them in heaven’?
- How do faith, hope and love influence each other?
- What makes them central to the Christian life? Rom 5:1-5
- What distinguishes this fruit of the Spirit from ‘spiritual gifts’? 1Cor 13:13
2) In v8 Paul wrote of their ‘love in the Spirit.’ What did he mean by that?
3) Paul described the Christian hope as ‘laid up for you in heaven‘ (v5). Why?
- How is such hope connected to the gospel? [heard of it in the word of truth]
- In our culture, the notion of absolute truth is regarded with suspicion. Why?
- Do you think the ancient uncritically embraced as true any wishful thinking? Why or why not?
- Why must our hope be founded on truth?
- v6: How will genuine ‘heavenly’ hope bear fruit in the here and now?
4) vv9-12 describe Paul’s prayer. What did he pray for?
- v9: be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in spiritual wisdom and understanding;
- What did he mean by ‘knowing the will of God’? 1Thes 4:3; 5:18
- To know God’s will, why is it not enough to simply know God’s laws? What will ‘spiritual wisdom and understanding’ add? Gal 3:11-14; 5:6
- v10: walk in a manner worthy of the Lord; bear fruit in every good work; increase in the knowledge of God;
- How does understanding the gospel help you bear fruit in the Christian life? (cf v6)
- v11: be strengthened with God’s power.
- How might the answer to such a prayer actually look like?
5) v11: When Paul prayed for their patience with joy’, why did he add here ‘joy’?
- Hint: What difference will it make if someone is patiently enduring, but without joy?
6) Personal and application
- Paul opens this letter with thanksgiving (v3). How does knowledge of God’s will in spiritual wisdom and understanding influence your own thanksgiving and how you pray for others, v12-14?
- Do you think the cultivation of heartfelt thanksgiving to God has an impact on your life? How?
- If you compare what you just read in Col 1 about thanksgiving, how does this compare to the focus of your own prayers?
- What hinders you to be more thankful and to express it with thanksgivings in your private chamber?
7) When praying together, consider:
- thanking God for one another and for what he does among you
- praying for godly wisdom, knowledge, fruit and power in specific areas where you know each other’s needs
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