A Prayer for Steadfastness
Colossians 1:9-12
March 3, 2024
Patrick Lawler had a persistent toothache. For about a week his tooth had been bothering him. It was bad enough that even his eyesight became blurry. He tried painkillers. They didn’t work. He tried icepacks to reduce the swelling. Nope. He even tried the cure-all for all mouth-related pains — ice cream. Even that didn’t work. Fortunately, his wife worked for a dentist, so after six days of pain, he went to the dentist who took an x-ray and discovered the source of his pain. It was a four-inch nail in his head.
Lawler is a construction worker; six days earlier his nail gun had misfired and he didn’t realize that it had sent the nail backwards, through his open mouth and into his skull, narrowly missing his right eye. He was referred to a surgeon who successfully removed the nail and Lawler’s tooth pain and blurry vision went away. A right diagnosis led to physical relief and restoration of function.
We talk regularly about the brokenness of the world and the difficulty of living in this world. When you are tempted, where do you turn for help? When you are provoked to anger by so many injustices (personal and cultural), what do you do? When you are weary spiritually or physically how do you reinvigorate yourself? When you know you should persevere but the task feels mountainous, what do you do? There are many options for help: we might ask a friend, write a blog or post on Face Book, or take a nap, or eat a bowl of ice cream. But even for believers the calling to endurance and steadfastness (“don’t move”) can appear overwhelming and impossible. God has given the body of Christ to walk with us, Scripture to correct and guide us, the Spirit of God to embolden us, and counselors and mentors to exhort and encourage us. But too often we overlook one ready resource for us: prayer.
One writer has noted, “As time passes, our temptation is to rely on our past experiences, on the knowledge we’ve gained, on new methods and ideas — on everything except [God]…” We trade His infinite sufficiency for our infinite inadequacy — it’s no wonder that we end up troubled and despairing. We need Him, we have access to Him, and too often we neglect the privilege of going to Him for help.
As we continue to think about how to be steadfast in life and ministry, this morning we look at Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1 where we will hear not only an admonition to pray but an example of how to pray —
Cultivate steadfastness by praying consistently.
Temptations to embrace falsehood and defect from Christ abound. It is not enough to say “be steadfast,” “don’t do that…” We must be strengthened in the fight for steadfastness and that strength comes from God and is accessed in prayer. We pray to prepare our hearts for our pressures and temptations. In his own praying and in his reminder to the Colossians about praying, Paul points to six petitions to make in our prayers:
- Be Steadfast by Praying for Spiritual Filling (v. 9)
- Be Steadfast by Praying for Worthy Lives (v. 10a)
- Be Steadfast by Praying for Spiritual Fruitfulness (v. 10b)
- Be Steadfast by Praying to Know God (v. 10c)
- Be Steadfast by Praying for Strength to Endure (v. 11)
- Be Steadfast by Praying for Hearts of Gratitude (v. 12)
Download the rest of this sermon on Colossians 1:9-12.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.
Words of Grace 