Thoughts for the Day

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Today's passage from the letter to the Colossians deals with two huge subjects - Prayer, and God's Kingdom - and we can only just touch on both. Firstly, Paul says he is praying for the members of the new church in Colossae. When we pray for others we first pray for God's will to be done, not our will! So we need to try to discern what God wants. Rather than demand that God listens to us, we need to try to listen to what He wants. As one eminent theologian put it, "We often pray to God saying 'May Your will be changed'." So we're back to the subject of listening to God that we looked at last Sunday (Thoughts, 31 August 2025).

Secondly, Paul asks that we have the power to perform God's will. Prayer must always result in action. It's no good praying for someone to visit a sick person if we're not prepared to do this, or at least find someone who will visit them. So asking for God's power through the Holy Spirit does not mean we just hand over the problem to God and leave it there.

Lastly, we are to give thanks to God for all that we have received as Christians. We have been taken from the kingdom of this world which is dark and under the power of Satan into a Kingdom which is light and under the power of God. We have been taken from slavery into God's Kingdom, and given freedom. Or put another way, we have been offered forgiveness for our sins, and set free from its bonds through the work of God's beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father,
may we turn to You in prayer
as to a beloved parent,
who loves us and cares about us.
You know our every fault and error,
for which we ask forgiveness this day.
May our request be to seek Your will,
and then to work out what action to take
to reflect our status as children of light.
Amen.