27 February: That's what he said

One of the elders at church opened up our corporate time of prayer with a quick homily on the subject. 'Prayer isn't something which comes naturally. It's something we have to learn. That is why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them.' One of the ways he recommended is to join into a practice which predates the New Testament: praying the words of Scripture. One of my professors will occasionally employ this sort of prayer in class and it is great and refreshing to hear. One of the simplest ways is to use the prayers in the Bible and go from there; this is what we're going to do this morning.

First, pick out two people you would like to pray for.

Second, flip to Colossians (GEPC. If you don't get that, don't worry about it). Colossians, like many of Paul's letters, contains a disclosure of his prayer life. In 1:9-12, Paul shares what he prays for the church in Colossae and we are going to use this to pray for the people we have picked.

It's quite simple: whenever you see Paul use a pronoun to refer to the Colossians, substitute your person's name in there. For example, let's say you are praying for someone named Art and using Paul's prayer in Colossians 1. When he writes, "We have not ceased to pray for YOU, asking that YOU may be filled with the knowledge of his will," you can pray, "God, I pray for Art, asking that he may be filled with the knowledge of your will..."

Paul has other good prayers, in Ephesians, for example. This morning, follow Paul's lead and pray for people you know. Paul has some great requests, the kind of things these people will be blessed to have prayed for them.