How Are You Doing in the Christian Life?
James Merritt
Colossians 1:9-12
Introduction
1. Someone has said, ''You can tell what a man likes by what he does. You can tell what a man thinks by what he says. But you can tell what a man is by how he prays.'' When I read the prayers of Paul, one thing I know is that he was a man of God. There was an in sight and an intimacy in his prayers that I want in my prayers.
2. It is fascinating to see how Paul prayed for others. You know when we pray we often pray for Aunt Bessie to be healed or for Uncle John to be successful in his business, or we'll ask God to give us beautiful weather as we travel on a journey. We'll ask the Lord to give a man a job who has just been unemployed. These things are not necessarily wrong but you never hear Paul praying this way. Paul's prayers are on another level, I mean I am sure that there was sickness in colossi but he didn't pray for anyone to be healed. I am sure that there were people there who needed work, but he did not pray for jobs.
3. Paul lifted prayer from a material dimension to a spiritual dimension. When Paul prayed for these Colossians he prayed for their vision. He prayed for their vitality. He prayed for their victory. You see, when we ask for material things we are asking for God's mercies. But when we ask for spiritual things we are asking for God's blessings and God's blessings are more important than God's mercy
4. Paul was concerned with how the Colossians were faring in the Christian life. We ought to be going farther, growing stronger, and glowing brighter in the Christian life every day. We sing the song, ''Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.'' I believe that Jesus should be singing that about us. I believe he should be singing about me, ''Everyday with James is sweeter than the day before.''
6. Paul makes 5 requests in this beautiful prayer for this church. Now I believe these requests are standards that we can use to gauge how we a ...
James Merritt
Colossians 1:9-12
Introduction
1. Someone has said, ''You can tell what a man likes by what he does. You can tell what a man thinks by what he says. But you can tell what a man is by how he prays.'' When I read the prayers of Paul, one thing I know is that he was a man of God. There was an in sight and an intimacy in his prayers that I want in my prayers.
2. It is fascinating to see how Paul prayed for others. You know when we pray we often pray for Aunt Bessie to be healed or for Uncle John to be successful in his business, or we'll ask God to give us beautiful weather as we travel on a journey. We'll ask the Lord to give a man a job who has just been unemployed. These things are not necessarily wrong but you never hear Paul praying this way. Paul's prayers are on another level, I mean I am sure that there was sickness in colossi but he didn't pray for anyone to be healed. I am sure that there were people there who needed work, but he did not pray for jobs.
3. Paul lifted prayer from a material dimension to a spiritual dimension. When Paul prayed for these Colossians he prayed for their vision. He prayed for their vitality. He prayed for their victory. You see, when we ask for material things we are asking for God's mercies. But when we ask for spiritual things we are asking for God's blessings and God's blessings are more important than God's mercy
4. Paul was concerned with how the Colossians were faring in the Christian life. We ought to be going farther, growing stronger, and glowing brighter in the Christian life every day. We sing the song, ''Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.'' I believe that Jesus should be singing that about us. I believe he should be singing about me, ''Everyday with James is sweeter than the day before.''
6. Paul makes 5 requests in this beautiful prayer for this church. Now I believe these requests are standards that we can use to gauge how we a ...
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