Praying With Paul

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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Held Together in Christ

Passage

Colossians 1:15-20

Prayer

Dear Father, We have not seen you. We do not even know what it might mean to see you. But you have shown us Jesus, and because we have seen him, we have seen you. Thank you for him who is the image of you, the invisible God. Thank you for creating all things through him who is the first-born of all creation. Help us grasp what is means that everything - things in heaven, things on earth, things visible, things invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, all matter and all energy - was created by him who was before all things, and that all these things hold together through him. How overawed we are! We prostrate our bodies, souls, and spirits before him! In Jesus' hallowed name I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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Strengthened with Power

Passage

Colossians 1:11-14

Prayer

Dear Father, in whom there is no darkness at all, Strengthen me with all power, according to your great might, so that I can both endure and be patient, even having great joy while enduring, always giving thanks to you, my heavenly Father. Please qualify me to share in the inheritance in the light of your dedicated and holy people. Thank you for rescuing me from the realm of darkness and putting me safely into the kingdom of Jesus, the dear Son whom you love, and whom I love, through whom I have my redemption, the forgiveness of sins. In the name of Jesus, our awesome Lord. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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Filled with Knowledge

Passage

Colossians 1:9-10

Prayer

Dear Father, Help me and all of your people everywhere to be filled with complete knowledge of what you want, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Keep stirring up my spirit to make me want to lead a life worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ, a full life because it is fully pleasing to him. May I bear fruit in every good work. May I daily increase in my knowledge of you. In the name of Jesus, our awesome Lord. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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Harvesting Faith, Hope, Love

Passage

Colossians 1:5-8

Prayer

Dear Father, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Thank you for the fruit your Word is bearing throughout the whole world. Thank you that this gospel, the word of truth, has power to touch human hearts today even as at the beginning. Let its fruit grow among us. Let all your faithful ministers stir us up to more fruit-bearing. Let us grow in the Holy Spirit. Give us a deep passion, Lord, to fill our lives with faith, hope, and love. Give a holy longing for the Holy Spirit to guide everything we do. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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Sowing Faith, Hope, Love

Passage

Colossians 1:3-5

Prayer

Dear Father, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, We thank you for every brother and sister, young and old, who has faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and who is learning to love all your saints because of the hope that is laid up for us in heaven. Thank you for letting us hear about this abiding faith, hope, and love in your word. Thank you that your Word was proclaimed to us. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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You Made Endurance Possible!

Passage

Colossians 1:23

Prayer

Dear Father, Help me to continue in the faith by holding on to what you have given and by being stable and steadfast. Don't let anything move me away from the hope of the Good News which I heard, which was proclaimed throughout the whole creation under heaven. You make my endurance possible by filling me with your Spirit. Fill me more and more! And thank you for being my Father. In the name of Jesus and by his authority I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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Alive in Christ

Passage

Colossians 2:13-19

Prayer

Dear Father, Thank you for redeeming us. You took us out of deadness and gave us life. You made us alive together with Christ. You cancelled the debts that we owed you because of our sinfulness. You disarmed the powers that work against us, triumphing over them in Christ for our sake. How gracious and wonderful you are. To you we owe eternal praise. Help us to withstand anyone who might seek to disqualify us, seeking to bind us to any principle of action at all except faith in Jesus Christ, for he is the head, and he determines how the body will grow. Help us to hold fast to Christ, who is our head, in whose name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
_______________

Joined with Christ

Passage

Colossians 2:10-12

Prayer

Dear Father,Thank you, Father, that we have been joined with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection. Make us realize that we put off the body of flesh in his circumcision, were buried with him in his baptism, and were raised with him in his resurrection. Give us the faith to see your hand at work in all this and to see ourselves in what happened to him. Help us to hold fast to Christ, who is our head, in whose name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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In Christ, the Fullness of Deity

Passage

Colossians 2:8-9

Prayer

Dear Father, May I never be impressed with the philosophy and empty deceit that comes out of human traditions which do not agree with Christ. Keep me from being enticed by teachings that root their knowledge in the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of nature, and in scientism, but not in Christ. Help us to understand what it means that the very fullness of deity dwells in our Lord bodily and that we have come to the fullness of life in him and that he is the head of all rule and authority. Help us to hold fast to Christ, who is our head, in whose name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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Discerning, not Deceived

Passage

Colossians 2:4-7

Prayer

Dear Father, my rock, Help me to think clearly with discernment. Keep me from being taken in by the beguiling speech of deceivers. Give me great joy in manifesting good order in my conduct and being absolutely firm in my faith. As I received Christ Jesus as the Lord, grant that I may live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith. Grant that I may do this with great praise and thanksgiving! All praise, thanksgiving, honor, and glory to you, our Father, for what you have done for me through Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
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The Knitting of Hearts

Passage

Colossians 2:1-3

Prayer

Dear Father, encourager, Encourage our hearts and knit them together in love with the heart of Jesus and the hearts of every other child of yours! Give us all the riches of knowing and understanding of what you had formerly kept secret, the Good News about Jesus Christ, for in him you have hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Give us firm assurance in him. Whatever new dimension or unfolding of your grace that shall come, it will be, I am convinced, a disclosure of the good things originally hidden in Christ. Help us to know it when we see it. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
_______________

Blessing of Grace

Passage

Colossians 1:28-29

Prayer

Dear Father, source of our energy, We do hope in you because our Lord lives his life through us and blesses others through the genuine love which he gives. Grant us to proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we can present people mature in Christ. Grant that we may strive for this with all the energy which you mightily inspire within us. All good things are from you. There is no blessing except by your grace. We live and rejoice because of you! In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
_______________

Christ in Us, Hope of Glory

Passage

Colossians 1:24-27

Prayer

Dear Father, Help us have the attitude of Paul, who could rejoice in suffering for the sake of your body, the church, seeing his own suffering as an extension of Christ's suffering. May the members of the body of Christ make your word fully known, the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now made visible to your holy people. How great among the nations is the wealth imparted to them by the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in us, the hope of glory. It is in his name that I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
_______________

No Distinctions

Passage

Colossians 3:5-10

Prayer

Dear Father, Let me live in the light of your truth about myself - that my old nature has been put off, with its baggage of practices, and that I have put on a new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Help us to make no distinctions regarding origins, heredity, or traditions, but to see Christ in all believers. Help us to let Christ be in us, to transform and renew every fiber of our being and of our relationships. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
_______________

Extinguishing Evil

Passage

Colossians 3:5-17

Prayer

Dear Father, Help me put to death certain things in my life that are earthly - inward evils ranging from impurity to covetousness. Most of all, may I be rid of covetousness, wanting the applause and possessions of this world, which is really idolatry. May I extinguish all outward evil ranging from anger to slander and foul talk. Keep me from everything that is false. Don't let a lie come to my mind or my lips. In the name of Jesus. Amen.