Scripture:

Colossians 1

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2To the holy and faithful^[a] brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.^[b]

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our^[c] behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption,^[e] the forgiveness of sins.

I was given this verse by a woman who used to mentor me. She was fantastic and loved God greatly. Unfortunately, I was at a stage of my life where I was trying to take the leap, but struggling really with what it meant to be a Christian. I wonder sometimes, since she and I lost touch, if she ever considered that I might have gone this particular direction. But anyway, I digress.

Frank and I started talking today about why we don’t read the Bible more and both feeling convicted that we should read the Bible more. I will say that the should is not the result of some strong moral imperative, but rather, when I grow in my knowledge of God, I grow personally. When I know God, not just based on what I have heard from others, but from what He has revealed to me in His word – it becomes much easier to understand what God is saying to me.

I believe in some way, God was reminding me of this with this verse because one of the key areas that Paul is praying for the Colossians in is that they would grow in their knowledge of God.

Anyway, the other stand out piece of information I gleaned in this is the importance of prayer. I know in my head and my heart already that prayer is important and that praying for others is essential, but I know that this is an additional area of improvement. Paul says to the Colossians that he is continuously praying for the Colossians. And not only is he saying, “Oh, and God, by the way, please remember the Colossians” – rather! – Paul is praying very specifically for the Colossians.