1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
12Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ~ Colossians 3:1-17 (ESV)
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s Prayers for the Week post. Today I’m sharing with you verses from the book of Colossians. The Word of God is often complex and hard to understand, but to me, these verses speak plainly and tell us exactly what God wants from us. If you are one with Christ, if you have, as the Bible reads, been “raised with Christ”, then God wants you to turn your sights away from the things of this world and instead turn them to the things above. Look to God, look to Heaven, look to Jesus, and follow His direction, his leading in your life, rather than looking at the things of this earth.
In today’s world, there is so much hate, so much anger, so much malice. You can’t avoid it, it is on the radio, it is on the television, it is experienced in the newspapers, on the streets, in social media. It is everywhere. The biggest concern I have about all that anger is that it will settle in the hearts of people, Christians and non-Christians alike, and when it does, the only one happy is Satan.
Social injustice has been a fact of life for hundreds of life. In Jesus’ day the Romans were in charge, the Hebrews were oppressed, and the corruption was rampant. Today people are angry at the Republicans like other people were angry at the Democrats before them. I guess the point I’m trying to make, and likely failing miserably at, is that regardless of what we do to end social injustice, the likely fact is that we are not going to be completely successful. The key to our struggle, to the human struggle, if you will, is that we need to change the one person we can — ourselves.
A great Biblical scholar, a man of God who devotes his time in sharing the Word of God, the Truth, with hundreds of men each week, recently told us these words of wisdom:
The Bible is not a book on social reform. The Bible is a book on Salvation.
My friends, everyone wants to be that change for good. Be the change for good in yourself, and be the change for good in your family. Don’t let the anger that pervades this world settle in your heart and turn you from God. Now, please pray with us for these prayer requests and praises.
Prayer Requests & Praises
- Please pray for Patti. Here is her prayer request: Asking for prayers for my mother in law. She has been hospitalized with congestive heart failure.
- Vickie has a prayer request for her sister: Please pray for my sister Betty. I took her to the local ER and they flew her to Charlotte. She was having a heart attack. I should have gotten there sooner. They have not told us anything yet.Update: It isn’t good. Doctor said this has been building for some time. They can only treat her with medicine for now because there is too much damage and her kidneys are too weak. Surgery may be possible later on but doubtful. Update 3/17: Betty is no longer in ICU. They started dialysis yesterday. Hoping this will help stabilize her and then maybe they can address the blockages in her heart. Thanks for the prayers!
- Lori has a prayer request: Asking for prayers for a good friend of mine, Colleen, and her family as her husband is having major colon surgery in the morning. I am thankful her husband’s sisters will be there for her tomorrow! God Bless the hands of the surgeons, and grant a successful operation and healing!
- Please continue praying for Aaliz’s nephew. The latest update on his condition: He keeps having fevers and then they go down. It is very hard on my sister right now. Her name is Angie please pray for her and her husband Charles. They have been by his being at bedside for months now.
Now, please pray with us the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those that trespass against us.Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.For Thine is the Kingdom, and Power, and Glory
Forever and ever. Amen.
Source: Prayers for the Week
