God-Centered Prayers

March 26, 2018

God-Centered Prayers

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Colossians 1:13-14

Read: Colossians 1: 9-14

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and he gave them what we know as The Lord’s Prayer. Although Paul never specifically mentions The Lord’s Prayer, it is clear from all of his references to prayer in his epistles, that he understood the Lord’s teaching on prayer: it’s all about God, or as the writer of Hebrews put it, prayer is all about “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). When prayer is all about God, when our eyes are fixed on Jesus, our prayers glorify God and seek His guidance in placing our lives in the center of His will. When we shift our prayer focus from God to our own lives, our prayers become self-centered, and we seek God to change what we consider bad circumstances in our lives.

Paul’s prayers in today’s passage model the difference between God-centered prayers and self-centered prayers. Paul prayed fervently for his friends in Colossae, that God would give them complete knowledge of his will and would give them spiritual wisdom and understanding. He prayed that God would strengthen them with all his glorious power so they would have all the endurance and patience they needed. Paul prayed that his friends would be filled with joy, and would always thank the Father, because God had enabled them to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people who live in the light. Paul prayed that his friends would praise God who had rescued them from the kingdom of darkness and transferred them into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased their freedom and forgave their sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

My Takeaway: Paul’s ambition for his own life, and his prayers for his friends, was to be firmly established in a living and dynamic relationship with God the Father and Christ Jesus His son. I can hear Paul’s words from Philippians 3 ringing in my ears as I read Paul’s prayers for the Colossians: “everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I want to know Christ!” (Philippians 3:8, 10). This is what shaped Paul’s heart and his prayers. Does it shape ours?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.