Let Us Not Cease to Pray

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you…” (Colossians 1:9). Paul wasn’t able to visit the Christians in Colossae. He was incarcerated in Rome hundreds of miles away. He couldn’t meet with them, or talk to them, or teach or preach to them. But he could still minister to them. He wrote them and prayed for them.

He wrote that from the day he heard, he had not ceased to pray for them. What did he hear?

He had heard that there were “saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.” And he’d heard that these saints and faithful brothers had “faith in Christ Jesus” and they had “love for all the saints” (1:2-4).

I know you know this, but let me remind you, there are saints and faithful brothers that we are unable to visit, not because we are incarcerated like Paul, but because they are incarcerated and the prisons are shut down due to the pandemic. There are saints and faithful brothers in the prisons, who have faith in Christ Jesus and love for all the saints. And, we cannot meet with them, or talk to them, or teach and preach to them. But we can still minster to them. We can write and we can pray, and in so doing minister to them like Paul ministered to the Christians in Colossae.

What did Paul pray for the Colossian Christians? He prayed that they would be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (1:9-10).

He went on to pray that they would be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (1:11).

Those are good things for us to pray for our mentees and correspondence students, and for all the saints and faithful brothers in prison. Let us ask God to use this time to build up our brothers in wisdom and understanding, in spiritual fruit and good works, in knowledge and power in the Lord. And let us encourage our brothers to be sources of light and ministry to other prisoners.

I heard from two chaplains this weekend who reminded me that prisoners cannot come to the chapel. There are no programs. One of the chaplains wrote “these past couple of months have become for us a true desert experience…we are more than a bit anxious and fearful.”

This is an opportunity for our mentees and students to step in the gap and to share with other inmates the truth of the hope laid up in heaven, the word of the truth of the gospel, the grace of God in truth (1:6-7).

So let’s do this, like Paul did, let us pray for our men, in fact, like Paul, let us not cease praying for them. And, let’s write to them encouraging them in the truth of the gospel, and let’s also encourage them to be ministers of hope and truth to other men as well. And let’s expect that Jesus will use this time to do some amazing things.

Much love, Barry