Our prayers often focus on the needy, including ourselves. Many of us probably get prayer letters or diaries from various organisations. And, of course, we certainly should pray for the needy, but we should also pray for the successful.
In Paul’s letter to the Colossians he spends 1:3-8 describing how well the Colossians are doing. Faith and love in the Spirit are abounding among them. So what is Paul’s reaction? Is it to think, “well they are doing OK, so I can focus on churches which are having real problems”? Absolutely not. In Col 1:9 we read (and well worth reading the following verses as well):
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives ...
Because he has heard they are doing well Paul prays all the more for them. Paul prayed that God would fill them with knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. If God is clearly doing a work in someone then there are two other things that should happen. One is that the person, or group of people, should “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Tim 1:6) and the other is that others need to pray for them. Then there will be much fruitfulness. It is so easy for someone who is initially doing well to get sidetracked, to start going down a road that is ultimately ungodly. We have probably seen this with individuals that we know, and with Christian groups or organisations that have gone astray.
When we see someone doing well we should pray all the more for them so that their full potential, and the full fruitfulness of the kingdom is realised.
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