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How To Pray for Those You Love · Enjoying the Journey

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  In our busy world, family time is frequently neglected.
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  It is vital that we give attention to our families while we can,
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  and it is especially important to give attention to what God says
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  in his word about our homes. For the next few
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  moments, Let's join Scott Pauley as we open the scriptures and find
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  God's message for your family.
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  For this cause we also, since the day we heard
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  it, do not cease to pray for you.
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  Have you ever wondered what the greatest thing you
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  could do for your family is? I mean, of all the things you could give
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  them, of all the things you could say, of all the The wonderful places you
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  could take them? What's the greatest thing you could do for your family?
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  Well, I believe the answer is it's the same thing Jesus
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  is doing now for his family. He's praying for us at
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  this moment. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the great intercessor,
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  is at the right hand of the Heavenly Father. He's praying for us. And when
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  we enter into intercessory prayer, we are literally joining Jesus
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  in his own work. I believe it's the highest level of prayer,
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  and it is, my friend, the greatest thing you can do for those you love.
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  Is there someone on your heart today, some family member, some great need?
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  You know, I've discovered that through the years, oftentimes the felt needs,
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  the perceived needs, are not always the great needs.
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  Usually the real need is beneath the surface. It's beyond
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  our understanding. Only God really knows what's in any of us.
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  Only God knows what the greatest need is. And so I've learned
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  through the years that when I pray for others, one of the greatest things I
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  can do is seek to be led of the Holy Spirit as I pray and
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  find some definite thing from Scripture to pray
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  for those people. You see, you always know that you're praying in
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  the will of God when you're praying in the Word of God. It's more
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  than a routine, more than just having a prayer list that is a reminder,
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  but praying definite spiritual things for those you love.
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  The verse I read a moment ago, at least a portion of a verse,
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  is Colossians chapter 1, verse number 9. And the context is the
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  Apostle Paul sitting in prison, a man himself in need of prayer.
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  And what's he doing? He's praying for those he loves.
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  He's praying for those who are part of, of God's family. And he begins
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  one of these great Pauline prayers. They're scattered throughout his writings.
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  You should study them. They're rich and wonderful. But I think this
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  prayer in Colossians chapter 1 is a wonderful model for us.
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  It is a template for how we can pray for our own family members.
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  Let's walk through it today. Make the list, will you? And then don't
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  just make the list, take it and use it today. Pray these
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  things for your family members. In verse 9, he said that he
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  did not cease to pray for them. I think a great parallel to that is
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  the fact that 1 Thessalonians, he said we're to pray without
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  ceasing. So he's, he's doing that, staying in an attitude
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  of prayer, but For what did he pray? Here's what we want to discover.
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  He said, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge
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  of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
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  Number 1, how do you pray for those you love? Pray that they would know
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  and understand the will of God. Pray that they would know
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  God. Isn't that the greatest knowledge of all, is the knowledge of God?
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  Colossae, where these believers were living, had been invaded by philosophy
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  and legalism and lots of manward thoughts,
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  much like our world today. So what is Paul praying? He's praying that
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  their thoughts, their lives, would be lifted above all of that earthly
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  knowledge and wisdom to heavenly knowledge, to God's
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  wisdom. He just prays that God will work
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  in them in a powerful way. By the way, in the previous
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  verses, he talks about some good things that were going on in Colossae, and yet
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  it seems he's still straining and struggling in his prayer for them.
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  Could I remind you that when it seems things are going well, that's not
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  the time to let up? That's the time to press through in prayer.
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  There's always a spiritual opposition, and the battle is won
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  in prayer. So begin by praying that those you love would know and
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  understand the will of God. And then in verse 10, a second thing: that you
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  might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.
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  Pray that they would please God with their lives.
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  Notice what I did not say. We're not praying that they'll please us.
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  All too often, I think even when we pray for those we love, we pray
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  selfishly. We want them to do our will, what we want accomplished. No,
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  Lord. Lord, I want them to please you.
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  Whatever you want, that's all I want. Did you notice
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  that Paul did not depend on his own talking or writing to form Christ's character
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  in them? That's significant. And may I say,
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  far too often, lean on our own words to shape the character of our
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  children or to change the mind of someone we love.
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  Friend, when you pray, God speaks. When you pray, God works,
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  and your praying will get more done than all of your lecturing and worrying combined.
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  So pray, though, please the Lord. And then at the end of verse number 10,
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  he says, being fruitful in every good work and increasing
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  in the knowledge of God. So here's a third thing: pray that they would bear
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  fruit in the work God has for them. Whatever it is that God's given them
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  to do with their lives, pray they'd be fruitful in it. And specifically,
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  I believe we're praying here for spiritual fruit, for the fruit of the Spirit to
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  be formed in them, for love and joy and peace and
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  long-suffering and gentleness and goodness and faith and meekness and temperance.
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  Isn't that the great fruit? And so pray they would bear fruit.
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  And then number 4, in the same verse, pray that they would grow in their
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  knowledge of God. He said increasing in the knowledge of God. And notice,
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  this is more than just them being saved. These people already knew the Lord.
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  We should be praying right now that those we love will come to
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  love Jesus even more, that those we love will come to understand more of
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  the love of God for them. Remember, the whole book of Colossians
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  is about the sufficiency of Christ. Oh, how we need
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  to grow in our, in our knowledge and understanding and appreciation for
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  all that Christ is. Dear Lord, help every one of us grow in
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  our knowledge of God today. And then a 5th thing on Paul's prayer
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  list. In verse 11, he says, strengthened with all might according to
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  his glorious power. Pray that they would learn to live in God's strength and power.
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  Strength to resist the tempter, strength to press
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  on in faith, strength to be faithful. Not strength that they can
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  muster up or strength of some resource we can give them, but divine
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  power. There's nothing like it. And then a 6th thing in the same verse.
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  He says, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.
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  Pray that they would learn to deal with every difficulty in life
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  with joy. Difficulties are going to come. Man that is born of woman is a
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  few days and full of trouble. We'd like to change all that for our family,
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  but we cannot. I'll tell you what we can do. We can pray that
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  they would not only get through it— that's the patience and long-suffering—
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  but they would do it with joyfulness. That the joy of the Lord would be
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  their strength. This generation is facing intensified spiritual opposition
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  and persecution. How shall we pray? Dear Lord,
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  help our family know so much the joy of Jesus that they have the courage
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  to keep moving forward. And then one final thing, pray that they would
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  develop a grateful heart. This matter of gratitude keeps coming up
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  again and again, doesn't it? But in verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which
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  hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
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  True thankfulness will keep you from sin. Oh, my friend,
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  when you pray, pray that your family will be
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  nearer to God. Pray for spiritual realities. I hope
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  you'll begin your intercessory prayer ministry today, this very day.
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  I remember years ago hearing the story of a widow,
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  a woman whose husband had been mightily used of the Lord as a preacher.
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  And at the funeral, someone said, oh, we're going to miss your husband's sermons.
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  And immediately she responded and said, that's not what I'm going to miss. She said,
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  I'm going to miss his prayers. I wonder, will anyone miss your prayers
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  someday? I believe this with all of my heart. I believe if we will stay
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  engaged in intercessory prayer, God will work in us and God will work
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  in them. Andrew Murray said he came to view prayer for himself as simply
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  the means of God preparing him to pray for others. Would to God we all
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  thought that way. Let's not be selfish in our prayers today.
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  And maybe even now you think of yourself as a little spiritually cold and indifferent.
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  The great missionary Henry Martyn said that he found in times of spiritual coldness and
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  weakness, if he started praying for others' spiritual needs,
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  it turned to meet his own needs. So why don't you stop right
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  now today and pray for someone specifically? Take at least one of these,
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  maybe take one a day for the next week, and let's pray these
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  specific spiritual requests over those
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  that we love. For more resources for your marriage and family,
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  visit us at etj.bible and click on the
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  Take the Next Step link, where you'll find many Bible resources that
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  will strengthen your marriage and equip you to raise your
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  children in the ways of the Lord. We highly recommend
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  Scott's book, New Testament Marriage. In it, you'll discover
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  timeless biblical principles from the husband and wife team Aquila
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  and Priscilla, and these principles are very applicable to
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  your marriage today. From all of us at Enjoying the Journey,
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  thanks for listening today. And until next time,
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  we pray that you will enjoy the journey.