Month: September 2013

The Hope of us

5547	Christ	Χριστοῦ	Christou	N-GMS
2424	Jesus	Ἰησοῦ	Iēsou		N-GMS
3588	the 	τῆς	tēs		Art-GFS
1680 	hope	ἐλπίδος	elpidos		N-GFS
1473	of us	ἡμῶν	hēmōn		PPro-G1P

— 1 Timothy 1.1

God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ

“Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you; and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you, to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”
—1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 WEB

Observe, Whom he prays to, namely, God and Christ. Prayer is a part of religious worship, and all religious worship is due unto God only. Prayer is here made to God, even the Father and our Father; and also to Christ, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore Jesus Christ our Lord is God, even as God our Father is God. Prayer is to be offered to God as our Father. So Christ taught his disciples to pray; and so the Spirit of adoption prompts them to pray, to cry, Abba Father. Prayer is not only to be offered in the name of Christ, but offered up to Christ himself, as our Lord and our Saviour.
—Matthew Henry

Giving thanks to God the Father, through Him

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through Him.

—Colossians 3:15-17

Epaphras

Matthew Henry on Epaphras in Colossians 4.12 & 13:

“Epaphras (v. 12), the same with Epaphroditus. He is one of you, one of your church; he salutes you, or sends his service to you, and his best affections and wishes. Always labouring fervently for you in prayers. Epaphras had learned of Paul to be much in prayer for his friends. Observe, 1. In what manner he prayed for them. He laboured in prayer, laboured fervently, and always laboured fervently for them. Those who would succeed in prayer must take pains in prayer; and we must be earnest in prayer, not only for ourselves, but for others also. It is the effectual fervent prayer which is the prevailing prayer, and availeth much (Jam. 5:16), and Elias prayed earnestly that it might not rain, v. 17. 2. What is the matter of this prayer: That you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Observe, To stand perfect and complete in the will of God is what we should earnestly desire both for ourselves and others. We must stand complete in all the will of God; in the will of his precepts by a universal obedience, and in the will of his providence by a cheerful submission to it: and we stand perfect and complete in both by constancy and perseverance unto the end. The apostle was witness for Epaphras that he had a great zeal for them: “I bear him record; I can testify for him that he has a great concern for you, and that all he does for you proceeds from a warm desire for your good.” And his zeal extended to all about them: to those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. He had a great concern for the Christian interest in the neighbouring places, as well as among them.”

Is it a waste of time to turn aside to pray, as our busy world would have us believe? No, we must put on faith and press into prayer, praying without ceasing, as our new Life in Christ conforms us into the likeness of Jesus and His intercessory activity.