Why pray first?
How is love genuine?
What do you believe about the source of love?
Love is from our Creator—the Bible tells us so. Since Jesus taught us to pray, it makes sense to ask Him for help to genuinely love Him and others. We can also ask grace-filled friends to pray for us in the middle of life’s complications. Prayerful encouragement is a beautiful gift to share.
God’s love is perfect; He knows our love is far from perfect. He tells us to pray continuously. So, we lift up
- self
- friends
- teachers
- pastors
- leaders
- providers
- protectors
- family members
- everyone everywhere
Desiring to give and receive genuine love comes by faith hearing God’s Word. The Holy Spirit keeps us safely moving forward by grace and helps us recognize dangers that would mislead us to hell. By the faith God provides, we know the seriousness of failure and weakness. Turning toward God, fully admitting truth, we’re thankful to be forgiven. Unless we outright resist the Helper, Christ prays for us, supplies us with needed strength, and draws us near Himself. While our freedom to move away from Him remains optional, the Good Lord desires to hold us close, show mercy, comfort, encourage, and fight for us. He wants us to pray and have mercy on those who doubt his goodness.
Faithful prayer wants God’s best for all.
Since we are sure that Christ, alone, faithfully keeps promises that deliver us from evil, baptized believers want everyone to be comforted in the One Way that we are saved. We share Truth. Harmony flows by Christ’s grace, not by our accomplishments. Wisdom gained within the complete context of Scriptural principles points us to mindfully practice them, as we should, because we are so thankful! Trusting God’s will be done to mercifully protect those who follow Him, we’re safe. Depending on Jesus to intercede for us when we don’t know exactly what to pray, lightens the burdens we are bound to have because of our sin. Privileged to embrace forgiveness, our peace is in Christ.
Lies of the devil, ways of the world, our fallen human nature—these are always at work to crack and wreck the faith.
Rebellious behavior started in a garden and affected humanity as a whole. The glorious picture of God’s perfect creation broke when Eve was deceived by Satan to doubt God’s love for her. Historically, God gave people chance to repent and clean up their act, yet destruction fell on those who didn’t
heed His good advice. Help is utilized when we are willing to receive God’s grace, yet it’s refused when an arrogant attitude does without God. Selfish knowledge that strays from Truth may entice us to wander so far as to take the devil’s dangerous hook that pulls us into deep trouble. People carelessly lingering in rejection of the faith, risk separating themselves from their Creator. Almighty God judges the living and the dead, saving from damnation only those whose faith thanks and trusts His beloved Son who did the work to make the way to eternal paradise for us.
Colossians 1:9
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| And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, Colossians 1:9 |
How are you filled?
The Creator’s gifts and opportunities fill up each need, one-moment-at-a-time.
- gas for a car
- water for hydration
- food for energy
- seasoning for taste
- friendly time for emotional support
- the Word for forgiveness, life-saving growth and spiritual health
The Helper provides faith in the Water of Baptism and Word. Faith-opened-minds are eager to be continuously filled with wisdom which consistently recognizes the need for Jesus.
Since our Creator loves us so much, He patiently orchestrates opportunities for us.
The omnipresent God is just, loving, safe and good. He calls us to hear we have a desperate need for a Savior; plus, about grace we don’t deserve. We can’t save ourselves. Jesus first loved us so we may inherit blessings that belong to Him alone.
Learn about how to listen to or read the Bible which is God-breathed. Unity allows us to give and
receive encouragement to face challenges. Christ of Scripture picks us up since we fall short of expectations. Jesus was born to work for us. He finished all that was necessary to remove our sin and give us His righteousness. He says his body and blood are given for us, faith believes in, with and under the bread and wine, we experience the divine
heavenly reality of our Savior. He keeps us alive, empowered and connected to mercy. When we fail, being sealed by baptism into Christ’s
death and resurrection, nothing can separate us from the love He has for us. Our freedom either receives or rejects the Truth. To reject the Holy Spirit’s gifts would be our own fault.
Colossians 1:9-10
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| And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:9-10 |
Everyone is needy.
Our own and others’ failures consequentially affect lives. How do we deal with it? Each of us needs what Christ supplies: cleansing of sin for deliverance from evil and the certain hope—security of salvation.
To ignore personal sin and difficulties which extend from it while imposing a demanding attitude upon others would be considered an attempt to usurp authority that belongs to God. An arrogant, apathetic or vengeful heart makes bad choices that hurt the message of the Gospel. Rejecting the Holy Spirit’s gifts of faith (Word and Sacraments) by purposely being inactive and unfed allows spiritual weakness to set in. Starving oneself this way risks division from God for eternity.
Jesus sent the Counselor to live within all people.
“and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:20
Everyone who is willing to receive help, grasps the fullness of Scriptural knowledge and is filled with understanding that love and goodness comes from our Creator. Nothing we could ever think, discover, or do on our own matches or tops the pure, magnificent, meaningful, purpose of the ultimate ruler of the universe Jesus Christ. Trusting God’s concern for us, Faith calls us to pray for others as Paul writes,
“that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. …as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority” Colossians 2:2-4, 6-10
Jesus died and was raised from the dead for us. He will never die again.
“You have been made new, for you have “been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Col. 2:12). We have been buried and raised with Christ. We are “in Christ” and thus Christians are a new creation!” in.lcms
Read more about the universal renewal.
Jesus will be back.
By that time, everyone will have had opportunity to embrace the faith that is set on heavenly power. The original glory of creation will be fully restored to perfection, including complete healing of all believers, dead or alive, who are protected with grace and Scriptural guidance to life everlasting. Whoever abandons the faith sets themselves up to be harshly judged along with unbelievers who reject it.
Colossians 3:2
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| Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:2 |
Faith kills fixation on negativity—redirects focus into the Word of eternal life.
God hates whining, complaining and blaming. Expecting perfection of ourselves and others, idolizing ourselves and others as objects to satisfy selfish purposes—this doesn’t work. God loves us while we are yet sinners—fully knowing we don’t have capacity for perfection because of sin in our lives. He designed us to be able, by faith, to appreciate and trust He is perfectly true, good, and right.
Christ took all punishment for our weakness, failures, and abuse. The Holy Spirit instills a deep desire to put on Christ’s compassionate heart toward everyone. Despite the chaos of this temporary world and our human nature, we get help by regularly studying His Word. We can pray not to indulge temptations of body and mind and ask for opportunities to forgive, encourage and comfort each other. Thankfully opportunities exist to repent and place gratitude where praise is due.
Living in Faith is … Setting Our Minds on Things Eternal
Colossians 3:12-13
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| Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:12-13 |
Season speech with God-pleasing grace in Jesus over the reality of sin.
Tell it transparently, gently, so people will want more of the hope He provides for us. We all need to be reminded eternity is coming! For those who love Jesus, every tear will be wiped away. For those who have not yet received faith in the Savior, we pray their chance will be grasped before it is too late. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit fills us, stirs souls—opens eyes, ears, hearts and minds—to humbly receive God’s Word.
Live and rest patiently with joy knowing you are loved by God.
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:4
Colossians 3:17
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| And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 |
Pausing to add the one single ingredient of gratitude changes the flavor of everything.
Pray first—it’s the way of Christian living!
Colossians 3:23
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| Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, Colossians 3:23 |
Remember, or learn if you have not yet heard, how heartily the Lord works for us.
Purely out of His generosity, God shows His love for sinners. His Son was born on earth to suffer and take on all sin at the cross. The work of Jesus—tempted, yet remained purely innocent—selflessly, willingly endured a tortured death so the sovereign power of His resurrection redeemed humanity and the corruption of the entire world. Believers may repent! Forgiven, delivered from the domain of darkness, presented with the blessed certain hope of His glory—not because we deserve it in any way, shape or form—by growing in the grace God supplies in His Word. The Holy Spirit’s gifts keep us trusting Jesus. By faith, the Gospel continuously instills knowledge that He
- completely knows each high celebration and every low situation we face
- moves, shapes, transforms us
- calms anxiety with His peace
- cancels debt of sin for which Christ paid at the cross
- intercedes for us
- clears guilt
- is always there for us to hear and answer prayers
- equips us to work and give
- guards, protects, guides by the Word
- provides contentment and confidence
- reveals the purpose our Creator designed within us
- promotes growth and rest
- patiently renews our will to trust His help to endure until He makes all things new
- put heart into work he gives us to do so we, thankfully, do it for the Lord
- pray with thanksgiving
- recognize lies of the devil
- resist evil of the world
- flee temptation
- suffer and wait while thanking God that His will be done
- be renewed in knowledge that His ways and timing are higher than ours
- take up worship opportunities to hear the Gospel
- be built-up for the walk in Him according to His Spirit
- believe promises
- remember blessings of being reconciled to God
- look forward to the final resurrection when Jesus returns
- reflect Light that generously shines on, lives in and penetrates through us
- forgive, bear with, and carry out compassion through kindness toward others
- plant seeds that might win hearts
- keep peace
- carefully be wise during this existence among all people
- celebrate unity and encouragement among believers
- teach about faith, hope and love in cold, dark places of life on this earth
The atoning sacrifice of Jesus for us means thankful living in every circumstance of this life. Loving gifts come by the faith provided for us to have a thankful
- clear conscience in Christ
- heart filled with joy even in sorrow
- soul looking forward to a bodily resurrection for eternity with our Savior
- voice praising Jesus and inviting others to join
- creative mind and helpful hands equipped to work for the Lord
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