How To Pray For My Congregation - Timothy Weaver

I'd like to begin by saying it's good to be

here this morning, and I've already received blessings. I would

like to desire that the grace and the mercy and

the peace of God would be your portion. I have

good memories of some of the earlier exchanges with Gerald,

and I was thinking back to the times he would

come to Guatemala. He was serving in Belize, and I

was serving in Guatemala. He would travel over to study

Spanish in Antigua. We had some very good exchanges over

that time. I had to think of how God has

interesting ways of arranging the events of our lives and

unexpected things happen. When my wife's grandparents, Melvin and Anna Schrock,

passed away many years ago, it was not workable for

her to come to the funeral the funerals and i

always thought that someday i'd like to take her to

oregon and we'd like to make a little connection with

the relatives that live in this area and visit the

cemetery where they're buried and it never happened it's it's

one of those things you have to make it happen

if it's going to happen Until one of our sons

began a friendship with a young lady over in the

Ritter area, Long Creek congregation. And Friday a week ago,

our son Edwin married Amberly Heindel, daughter of Dan and

Jane Heindel, in that congregation. So as we started looking

at this trip and trying to arrange things, we started

thinking about this possibility. of coming to visit this area

of Oregon, especially Uncle Jason. And I just wasn't sure

how it would work out. Actually, my intent was to

not be here on Sunday. But when I priced the

tickets again, I realized that we could save considerable money

if we would wait to fly home until Monday. And

I said, I would like to be with the Halsey

congregation on Sunday morning. I think that would be a blessing.

So God arranged this today, and I know that some

of you have roots in the South, and I appreciate

Southern hospitality, but I'll tell you, we've found that Western

hospitality is very, very real too. And I want to

encourage each one of you to continue on with that

in your circle of friends and family and brotherhood. So,

What do we share with a congregation that I don't

know and who doesn't know me? Well, in a sense,

it gives me a freedom that I have that I

don't have at home. But on the other hand, we

want it to be something that would glorify Jesus Christ.

I'd like you to open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And sometimes I like to tell a little bit of

the history of a message. In this particular case, this

is a message that I've preached to our home congregation already.

And the way that developed was interesting too. And that

was that I had a message, I had a burden

in my heart that I was preparing and I was

getting this message ready to share with the home congregation

for a good number of weeks. And as it came

closer to my turn to preach, it just seemed like

the Lord was saying, not now, with the message that

I was preparing. And so... So then I just opened

myself to the Lord and I said, what, is there

something else? And he led me to this passage and

I shared it and I found a lot of personal

challenge here. I want you to know this morning as

I share, I'm going to be sharing something that challenged

me personally. And I'm sharing with you in hopes that

it will challenge you as well. But we're going to

consider the broad subject is the subject of prayer. The

specific subject is the subject of praying for your congregation,

praying for my congregation. How can I intercede before God

for the congregation of which I'm a part? And there's

many valuable teachings in Colossians chapter 1, but I'm going

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

to limit it. to verses 9 through 14. And we

have some very interesting words here as we think about

how to pray for our congregation. And this, by the way,

is what Paul said was the burden of his heart

as he prayed for this congregation. It was a congregation

that he was not present in, but it was one

that he cared deeply about. So Colossians chapter 1 verse

Colossians 1:9

9 says, For this cause we also, since the day

we heard it, do not cease to pray for you

and to desire that you might be filled with the

knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,

being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the

knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his

glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, giving

thanks unto the Father which hath made us to be

partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who

hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath

translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in

whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness

of sins. This is a model prayer. On behalf of

a congregation. And that's what we'd like to build the

message on this morning. But before we go further, we're

coming back to the general thought of prayer. One writer

said to be a Christian is to pray. Do you

know of any Christian that doesn't pray? The songwriter says

prayer is the Christian's vital breath. The Christian's native air.

And James wrote that the effective fervent prayer of a

righteous man availeth much. I'd like to ask a few

questions to stimulate your thoughts about prayer this morning. Can

you think of one person that you know who you

believe likely prays for you every day? You just think

about that a bit. Do you have someone that prays

for you every day? And I'm saying in a practical sense.

They may miss a day now and then, but in

a practical sense. I'd also like you to think of

this question. If on a scale of 1 to 10,

10 being the best and 1 being the worst, if

you were to rate your own prayer life on a

scale of 1 to 10, where would you put it?

How are you doing in your prayer life? And that's

not really the most important question. The question is this,

where would God put it? He knows how faithful or

unfaithful you and I are in our prayer life. And

we need to humbly accept what we can know as

well about this. And so now we're going to think

about praying for our congregation. We're going to think about

how we can be effective in our prayers for our

brethren and our sisters, our friends, the ones that come

to church on a regular basis and share with us

in worship. And again, quoting from the phrase we find

here in verse 9, since the day we heard it,

do not cease to pray for you. Paul was a

long ways away from Colossus. But he prayed faithfully for them.

How about you? How about me? Let's take a personal

challenge out of this. Well, let's look at a number

of practical points here. If we start there in verse 9,

it says that he desired that they would be filled

with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and

spiritual understanding. One of the aspects of prayer that you

should include as you pray for your congregation is to

pray that your brethren would have spiritual wisdom. And what

is it? Well, spiritual wisdom is to do the will

of God. That's what it is. And so how can

we know what God wants us to do? Well, that

takes discernment. Because over here somebody says you need to

do this to please God. And over here somebody says

you need to do that. And you and I need

to be discerning in the voices around us today. But

life is a constant series of decisions. We have little decisions.

We have big decisions. And in it all, the Christian

desires to do the will of God. even in the

food that he eats and the way he spends his

free time and all the other aspects of life. The

Christian is trying to do the will of God. And

so as you pray for your brethren and sisters, pray

that they would be granted wisdom and Prudence, knowledge, good judgment, comprehension, intelligence, awareness.

That's what wisdom is. And furthermore, when you think about

praying that they would be given wisdom, think about this.

Pray that they would make good decisions and pray that

they would have the humility and the courage to correct

bad decisions. That's something that all of us need and

our brothers and sisters need it too. Ideally, we don't

make bad decisions. But sometimes we do. And when we do,

we need to correct them. We need to be humble

enough and courageous enough to say, I was wrong. I

accept it. I made a bad choice there. Well, what's

the second thing we find? We'll find it in verse 10,

the first phrase. That they might walk worthy of the

Lord unto all pleasing. And in the King James, we...

have to understand it in the sense it was given.

And I would read it this way, that they would

walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in all. That

is another angle of prayer. That the lives of our

brothers and sisters would honor Jesus Christ in their daily living.

Why were the disciples called Christians at Antioch? Well, it's

because the way they lived, the way they talked, the

way they thought, the attitudes they had, just reminded people

of Jesus. And they said, he was Christ and these

are the Christians. That's how it worked. Well, that's how

it ought to work in our lives today too. But

you know, daily living is the acid test of Christianity.

There's a lot about our daily lives that our brothers

and sisters don't see. There's a lot. Our family sees

it better than they do, but there is a private

side to our lives that others don't see. And it's

very easy to fake it or to pretend or to

live a double life. But the Bible says a double-minded

man is unstable in all his ways. And so we

need to pray that our brothers and sisters would walk

in such a way that Jesus would not be ashamed

of them. Because he says, Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed

of me and of my words in this adulterous and

sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man

be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his

Father with the holy angels. You know, being ashamed of

Jesus Christ is a shameful thing. And we need to

cultivate the kind of courage that we can simply say,

I'm a Christian and I'm not ashamed of my Lord.

That's the kind of holy living that God wants to see. Well,

let's look at another one. The next phrase, also in

chapter 10, that they would please the Lord in all

they do. We've referred to that already. But how does

a person live that he would please the Lord in

all that he does? Well, God said of Christ, he said,

this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

And can God look down on my life and your

life and on the lives of our brothers and sisters

in the congregation? Can he look down and say, I'm

pleased with how Gerald's doing. I'm pleased with how Jason's doing.

I'm pleased. This is a person that I'm pleased with. Well,

how would we discern that? And you and I aren't

called to judge. In the sense that God judges man.

But we are called to evaluate carefully our walk. And

we're called to pray for each other that we would

be faithful. And please the Lord in all we do.

The Bible says we're to be holy for God is holy.

And so when a person that is trying to please

the Lord opens his life to the Lord. Then this

is what happens. He opens his life to the inspection

of God. And as he opens his life to the

inspection of God, God tells him where he should go

and where he should not go. And God tells him

what he should look at and what he should not

look at. What he should read and what he should

refuse to read. God is pleased when men cultivate good

attitudes in their hearts one to another. And he's displeased

when there's wrong attitudes that surface. And so, as you

pray for your brethren, pray they would please the Lord.

Pray that they would please the Lord. Number four, when

you pray for your brethren, pray that their lives would

be fruitful. Pray that their lives would be fruitful. It

says here, being fruitful in every good work. And the devotional...

Psalm 1 this morning was an excellent introduction to that. Actually,

I wouldn't need to say much more. But I just

like to think of it this way. When I'm praying

for my brethren, it's right to pray that they would

be fruitful. They would have fruitful marriages. They would have

fruitful family life. They would be fruitful in their businesses.

They would be fruitful in the community and in the neighborhood.

That the the fruit of the Spirit, the love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,

all of those things would be evident in their lives.

And I think of it this way, too. Another aspect

of fruitfulness is feeling fulfilled and living a fulfilling life.

And sometimes we find in the work of the congregation,

we find that here's an individual that does not feel

very fulfilled. Let's pray that the Lord would help them

find fulfillment in life. Maybe it's an elderly person. Maybe

it's a young person. Maybe it's a single person. Or

maybe it's someone that's in the heat of the battle

and they still don't feel fulfilled. You know what I'm

talking about. I can tell it in your faces. It's

real to us, isn't it? Well, let's pray that our

brethren would have fruitful lives. And by the way, it's

not wrong to pray the same for ourselves. We can

ask that of the Lord freely. Number five, that they

would increase in the knowledge of God. Pray that your

brethren would increase in the knowledge of God. And how

do we increase our knowledge of God? Well, number one,

the Bible. We read the Bible. We study the Bible.

We have Sunday school. We have family worship. The young

people go to Bible school. And we have ongoing worship

services week after week, month after month, year after year.

And it's going to continue until the Lord comes by

His grace. Because we want to increase our understanding of

the Bible. And I'm glad when I hear brethren say

as I studied this out. Or as I studied into

the meanings of these words. That's wonderful. But we increase

in the knowledge of God also through good counsel. And

so when we reach out to others that are faithful.

And we say what do you see in this issue?

What do you counsel me to do? We're increasing our

knowledge of God because God, through the Holy Spirit, fills

every heart, every single one. And that collective counsel is

for my benefit, for my growth. And so part of

our prayer that our brethren would increase in their knowledge

of God is that they would be open to counsel.

That's part of it. And that's not all. God uses

the scriptures. God uses the church. God uses faithful brethren

and sisters. And then God also uses circumstances in life.

And you know, it takes real discernment sometimes to try

to understand what is God trying to teach me through

this experience. But the knowledge of God, the increasing knowledge

of God, ought to produce a closer walk with God.

Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.

Number six, that they would be strengthened with all might

according to his glorious power. Pray that your brethren would

have spiritual power. Pray that your brethren would be overcomers.

Pray that your brethren would find victory in the battles

of life. You know, there's something so interesting here. And

that is that when a man meets God, he feels

like anything but victorious. You watch through the scriptures. You

study it out. When a man met up with God,

whether it was Moses at the burning bush or whatever

it was. When a man met God, he felt undone.

He felt totally worthless. He felt unworthy. he felt compelled

to fall down before God Almighty and confess that's how

it works and so when a man meets God he's

overcome with humility when a man meets God he's overcome

with brokenness When a man meets God, he's overcome with fear,

a reverential, godly fear. But that very position is where

God wants him to be. Because thus saith the high

and the lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy.

I dwell in the high and holy place with him

also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to

revive the spirit of the humble man. And to revive

the heart of the contrite ones. That's where God can work.

So when you pray that your brethren would be strengthened

with all might according to his glorious power. God wants

to come and find broken contrite hearts. Where he can work.

He wants to see them confess their sins. He wants

to see them crucify the flesh. He wants to see

them empty themselves of self. And he wants to see

and he wants to give them power. Power to overcome

the passions of the flesh. Power to overcome the anger,

the lust, the envy, the pride, the bitterness. Power against deception.

He wants to give them power against false religion. He

wants to give them power to stand up to the

desires of their own selves. Power to resist temptation. Power

to defeat their enemies and the giants in their lives.

That they would be strengthened with might according to his

glorious power. Number seven, as you pray for your congregation,

pray that they would be granted all patience and long-suffering

with joyfulness. Patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. Life is a

series of battles. And our brother referred to it, King David.

He could have wondered where Why? How? God could ever

work in his life. He had been a valiant young man.

He went out there and he killed Goliath. And there

was victory. And you would have said he was off.

He had a jump start to a wonderful career. And

God allowed him to be tested and tested and tested

and tempted and tempted. And all the things that shouldn't

have happened were happening to David, you might say. But

he proved his faithfulness because he was faithful under fire.

Patience is to face adversity without protest. That is really hard.

And long-suffering is fullness and constancy of courage in the

face of adversity. Just continuing to suffer long. Suffer, suffer, suffer.

With joyfulness. That's what the Bible says. And this is

a wonderful time to do it, but I'd just like

to thank Uncle Jason for being a good example in this.

We haven't been here close to you like so many

others have, but you've been a good example of all

patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. Physical fire, health needs, emotional fire,

stresses and strains even to the breaking point, economic fires,

Where we face loss and we face reverses. And we

face things not turning out like we wanted them to

turn out. Social fires. Our relationships are strained. And we

wish we could be good friends. And we wish we

could enjoy a healthy relationship with somebody. And there's always

this clash and this clash and this clash. And we say, God,

where are you? Pray that your brethren would be granted

all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. Pray that they would

find a way through. When thou passest through the waters,

I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they

shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire,

thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle

upon thee. God is there to help us through the

most difficult moments of our lives. And he has the

power to do it. But it requires yieldedness and obedience

on our part. Number eight, pray for your brethren that

they would be thankful. Verse 12 says, giving thanks unto

the Father. Pray that they would be thankful. Thankfulness is

such a good remedy for all the other problems we

face in life. It's a remedy for complaining. It's a

remedy for being critical. It's a remedy for murmuring. It's

a remedy that opens our eyes to the beautiful days

and the... Wonderful experiences that come even as we're in

the midst of the fire facing trial and temptation. Thankfulness

for daily grace. Amazing grace that enables us to face

the battles and the storms of life. In everything give

thanks for this is the will of God in Christ

Jesus concerning you. Number nine. This one is a double one.

Pray that they would be delivered from the powers of

darkness and translated into the kingdom of Of the dear

son of God. There's powers of darkness. I think one

of my memories of this visit to Oregon. Will be

the beauties and the marvels of God's creation. We saw

wildlife in the east of Oregon and other places. We

saw the coast. And the marvelous majesty of the ocean.

And the pounding waves on the rocks. We saw wonderful weather.

We saw beautiful agriculture, many other wonderful things. But you know,

we saw the powers of darkness. There were men and

women lying along the road, bumbling along down the highways,

and they were being led by a satanic power. I'm

convinced of it. God has a wonderful calling for you

this morning to be bright and a shining light in

these communities. But our brethren are also being faced with

the powers of darkness. And Satan would love to capture

and to enslave them once again. He'd like to get

them to think wrongly. He'd like them to conclude wrongly.

He'd like to give them inflated concepts of themselves. But

God wants them to abhor that which is evil and

to cleave to that which is good. And so, pray

that your brethren would Would victoriously stand against the powers

of darkness. And that they would press on with the

power of light. With holiness and love and humility and faithfulness.

Number ten and the last one. In whom we have

redemption through his blood. Even the forgiveness of sins. Pray

that your brethren would live in the. of redemption and

forgiveness of sins. Just pray that they would continue to

walk in a way that God would bless, that they

would enjoy salvation, help, do all you can through prayer,

that the young people would choose to serve the Lord,

that the backslidden would come back to the Lord, that

the faithful would be preserved blameless before the Lord. Jesus prayed, Father,

forgive them for they know not what they do. And

we pray, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Part of this thing of enjoying the forgiveness of sins

is to be faithful in forgiving others. That's part of it.

It's a big part of it. So, let us give

ourselves to timely confession and repentance of sin and error

and rejoice in our salvation. We've looked at ten angles.

We've looked at ten angles this morning. May God help

us to be faithful. How does God rate my prayer life?

How does he rate yours? Well, he knows. And you

can know too. Let us press on in faithfulness. God

bless you.