In episode 204, “Encourage Others Through Prayer”, Brooke & Faren discuss the meaning of Colossians 1:9-11 in the Bible. Hear how Paul motivates the church of Colossae with how we should respond to worldly temptation. We use our © Read Pray Talk Tell Method to discover ways we can practically live this scripture out in everyday life. The Colossians mini series begins on episode 204 and goes through episode 208 of the Witty & Gritty podcast.
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Read Colossians in Context
If you’ve been around the Witty & Gritty Ministry, you know that we have a whole library of podcast mini series full of Biblical worldview. Beginning in 2023, we’ve switched up our format and have read straight from the Bible. Today, we’re starting our fourth book of the Bible, which happens to be one of Paul’s letters.
The book of Colossians was written by Paul. You may have guessed it, he’s written this letter from prison. Unlike Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians, Paul did not start this church, and likely didn’t know the people in Collosae. Good news, you don’t have to personally know someone to encourage others through prayer! That’s exactly what Paul was doing here.
The Colossians were doing their best to follow Jesus, but were constantly faced with worldly temptation (aren’t we all?). Take a look at what Paul is saying to the Colossians:
“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy.”
Colossians 1:9-11
Proof of concept, friends! We don’t have to directly have a personal relationship to encourage others through prayer. You can pray, motivate, and send positive notes to others as much as you want. In this part of the podcast episode, we go line by line and discuss what this verse is saying. Be sure to scroll back up and press play to learn more.
Pray Encouragement Over Others
Take a moment to reflect on Colossians 1:9-11 and look at the attributes here that they are getting prayed over:
- Complete knowledge of God’s will
- Spiritual wisdom and understanding
- God-honoring lifestyle that bears good fruit
- Grow as they learn about God
- Strengthened with God’s power
- Endurance, patience, joy
Wow! These verses are packed with great things to pray over your people. Pray these over you, your family, your coworkers, you name it. Couldn’t we all stand to have a little more joy in our lives? How would your life and the lives of others look differently if we began to pray like Paul did for the Colossians? Now that’s a way to encourage others through prayer.
Talk, Not Gossip
Remember that Paul didn’t directly know these people, yet he prayed anyway. He had an idea of what they were struggling, but he didn’t know details. Let this be a reminder to us about not trying to get all the information out of people before we start praying for them, especially if they don’t want to share details.
We dig into the topic of unspoken prayer requests and address different points of view, spiritual maturity, and how to approach prayer when we don’t know what to pray. Again, Paul modeled this well, and when in doubt, pray Colossians 1:9-11 over people. We can learn how to encourage others through prayer by taking notes from Paul’s letter.
Tell Your Learning
With developing minds, younger children, or those new to the faith, teaching how to pray for others doesn’t have to be complicated. One way to begin is to pray for others while having a grateful heart.
Be thankful for what you have, and then turn it around to pray for others who do not have the same opportunities. In this part of the episode we give several examples of how this can look, so be sure to scroll back up and press play.
In these verses in Colossians, we can see we can encourage others through prayer by praying for a desire to learn about God. If we can train up our children to get excited about learning (in general and specifically about God), then the fruit of that looks like a deeper relationship with Jesus. Pro Tip: talk to your kids about what you’re learning and then that may spur them on to reciprocate.
We hope you enjoyed episode 204, “Encourage Others Through Prayer”, through our © Read Pray Talk Tell Method. Now it’s up to you to work through the Bible chapter discussed, pray about this verse using the prompts given, have biblical community around this verse, and go point others to Christ with the tips we give. Remember, when you read, pray, talk, tell consistently, you’ll grow your faith in God more deeply. Tune in next week to hear another breakdown of a Bible verse!
Links From the Show
- Colossians Mini Series
- Witty & Gritty IG
- Galatians Mini Series
- Fruit of the Spirit Bible Reading Plan
- Pam & Jerry Lewis episode 125
- Philippians Mini Series
- PodBean: Witty & Gritty
