Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV) For 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. And 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, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
I am always blessed by someone who lets me know that they’ve been praying for me. I never get tired of hearing those words from friends and family. What’s even more of a blessing is when someone teljavascript:void(0)ls me that they are praying for something specific that I have been praying for privately to the Lord. It reminds me that God has heard my prayers again. Paul, in Colossians says that he never stops praying for them – even though he had never been to their church. Their relationship to Christ is all that was needed to tie them eternally together. He specifically prays: 1- that God would fill them with the knowledge of his will with spiritual wisdom and understanding. 2- That they may life a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way. 3- That they would bear fruit in every good work. 4- That they would grow in the knowledge of God. 5- That they would be strengthened with power to His glorious might. 6- That they would have great endurance and patience. 7- That they would give joyfully give thanks to the Father. These are all good prayers but the next phrase really caught my attention “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” Other translations use the word “enabled.” When I think about the word qualify I think about a track meet where there is qualification races. The top racers from each heat would go on to the next race until a winner was found. I’m not a runner. God never gave me the long legs needed to run races. As I pictured this in my mind – I was racing with the very best and barely making it around the track when Jesus came along and picked me up and carried me to the finish line and qualified me for the next race. Humorous perhaps, but real on a lot of different levels. There’s no way that I would ever to be run that type of race or the Christian race without the help of Christ. He is what I need. Enough said. The trials and difficulties I have gone through have all been part of the qualifying process to help me run the race well. I am so blessed to be His child today and I am so blessed for people’s prayers for me on a daily basis. I’m growing deeper and running stronger then ever because of Christ who lives in me who has qualified and enabled me today.
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