The Prayer of Thankfulness. Colossians 1:3-4
What
we see now, as we do in most of Paul’s epistles, is that he begins with an
opening prayer. In that prayer we learn a number of principles related to prayer which we will be studying over the next several
weeks. The principle that we see as we begin is on gratitude. Paul begins
almost every one of his prayers at the beginning of his epistles with a focus
on thankfulness. There is a great lesson for us to look at these prayers and
find out what it is that Paul is thankful for.
Colossians
1:3 NASB “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, praying always for you.” Again we have a little textual variant in some
of the ancient MSS. In the Majority Text which is similar to but not identical
to the text that was used to translated the KJV and the NKJV inserts the
word “and” between God and the word “Father,” so it reads “the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In the NIV and NASB and others
which have their translations based on what is usually referred to as the
Critical Text then the “and” is not there. The insertion of “and” or the
omission of it doesn’t change the meaning or significance or any doctrines
whatsoever.
“We
give thanks” is the Greek verb eucharisteo,
which is a present active indicative. The present tense has the idea of ongoing
action. This is reinforced by the fact that he uses
the word “always,” and in other introductions he will not only use the word
“always” but sometimes he will say, “We always pray for you without ceasing.”
This emphasizes the fact that prayer is not something that is just sort of an
extra thing in our spiritual life but that it should be near the very center of it. That sad thing is that too many of us don’t
give prayer enough attention—not only personal prayer but also prayer
with others. One of the things that we see here is that this is a first person
plural verb meaning that is not saying I pray for you, he is saying we pray for
you. What he means by that “we” in terms of the immediate context is the
apostle Paul and Timothy. He is saying that we pray, and on a daily basis Paul
would probably meet with not only Timothy but others of these friends and
associates that were with him and they would spend time praying together for
all of these different churches, all of the people they knew, and that was a
priority.
The
spiritual life is not just a solitary existence where we are concerned about
our own little narcissistic spiritual life. The spiritual life in Christianity
has to do with the body of Christ. It is getting outside of ourselves
and ministering to others. So we need to get back to a time when we realize
that it is important to get together with other believers and pray.
In
Romans chapter one we see that Paul is thankful and expresses his gratitude for
the reputation that the believers in Rome had developed. They didn’t just have
one church, usually they met in different locations, some were small and some
were large, but they had developed a reputation. Their
faith—not just the doctrine that they believed but the application of the
doctrine that they believed—and the impact that they had locally in Rome
was known throughout the world. Romans 1:8 NASB “First, I
thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being
proclaimed throughout the whole world.” He uses a first person singular there
and he doesn’t include anyone else with him. [9] “For God, whom I serve in my
spirit in the {preaching of the} gospel of His Son, is my witness {as to} how
unceasingly I make mention of you.” The word “unceasingly” is the Greek word adialeiptos which is the same word that
he uses in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” It has the idea of
something that goes on continuously.
The
next time Paul mentions prayer for someone is in Romans 16:3, 4 where he
expresses his gratitude for something that is significant that we know nothing
about. Prisca and Aquila risked their lives for him.
So he is thankful that they did something in some way in order to help him.
1
Corinthians 1:4, 5 NASB “I thank my God always concerning you
for the grace of God which was given you in Christ
Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all
knowledge.” He is thankful, first of all, that the grace of God has been given
to the Corinthians believers. As messed up, confused and as carnal as the
Corinthian church was Paul nevertheless emphasizes that they were recipients of
God’s grace; they are believers. We see again and again that he is addressing
his prayers to God the Father. He doesn’t pray to Jesus or to the Holy Spirit,
he is expressing his thanks to God the Father through Jesus Christ or in the
name of Jesus Christ. The “in Him” is not instrumental; it is not “by way of,” it
is the positional idea of being in Christ.
The
letter to the Ephesians was written at much the same time as the epistle to the
Colossians. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon are the four prison
epistles and were written in that two-year period of time when the apostle Paul
was under house arrest in Rome. It was a time when he had various men with
him—Timothy, Silas and others. In Ephesians he is alone; he does not
mention anyone else. He just says, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God.” His prayer down to verse 15 is a first person singular prayer.
Ephesians 1:15 NASB “For this reason I too, having heard
of the faith in the Lord Jesus [their salvation] which {exists} among you and
your love for all the saints [their application].” We see that he emphasizes
two things: their faith in Christ which, strictly speaking,
would refer to salvation, but it also implies their ongoing trust in
Jesus in their post-salvation life. Their love is the application towards
others. This is an indication of their spiritual growth and spiritual maturity
because there is an overt expression of genuine care and concern for all of the
saints.
On
the one hand Paul is thankful for their initial faith in Christ (and by
implication their ongoing trust in Him), their love for all the saints, but he
prays in terms of intercession that they would continue to grow in their
knowledge and wisdom and that God the Father would give them an understanding
of who He is and an understanding of the Word. Ephesians 1:17 NASB
“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a
spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
The
next mention of thanks in Ephesians is in 5:20 NASB “always giving
thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the
Father.” A command to us as believers. Prayer is not
just something that is a private affair in the life of a believer’s spiritual
life. It is part of our community worship, the worship of the corporate body of
Jesus Christ. We are to be praying together.
There
are about 75 first person singular verbs in the epistle to the Philippians. In
contrast, Colossians which is also four chapters but a little
shorter has fewer than 15 first person singular verbs. There are only three
first person plural verbs (we) in Philippians and those are all within a few
set verses where Paul is talking about what “we” as a body of believers have in
Christ. Philippians is probably the most personal letter of Paul to any of the
congregations. It is really an expanded thank-you note because they have
sacrificed to send a significant financial contribution to help Paul out while
he is under house arrest in Rome. He is thanking them for their participation
and fellowship in the gospel ministry. It is a personal note and that is why he
leaves Timothy out.
Philippians
1:3 NASB “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” We get
the idea from the way Paul uses this phrase that every time he thinks about the
congregation he is praying. Maybe just bullet prayers at time and at other
times he can be pictured getting down on his knees with Timothy and the others
and having a prayer meeting. [4] “always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you
all, [5] in view of
your participation [koinonia
participation or partnership] in the gospel from the first day until now.” They
are financially contributing to the gospel, to its ministry. But it is not just
the financial aspect, it is that they’re involved in
evangelism and the gospel ministry within Philippi and in their own area.
1
and 2 Thessalonians were written from Corinth during Paul’s second missionary
journey and Timothy and Silas are with him there. They are included. There are
a number of places where he uses the first person plural pronoun in both of
those epistles. We see it in his prayer. 1 Thessalonians 1:2 NASB “We
give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention {of you} in our
prayers; [3] constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ in the presence of our God and Father.” What really matters
is their faith (ongoing trust in God), their labour of love which is their
Christian service which is motivated by their love for God the Father, and
their waiting for the return of the Lord. They are waiting in confident
expectation.
In
2:13 he expands this. NASB “For this reason we also constantly thank
God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you
accepted {it} not {as} the word of men, but {for} what it really is, the word
of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. [14] For you,
brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in
Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own
countrymen, even as they {did} from the Jews.” He was thankful because they
welcomed the Word of God; they were positive to God’s Word. When they needed to
be in Bible class they were in Bible class. They wanted to read the Bible and
to know what God had to say.
2
Thessalonians 1:2 NASB “Grace to you and peace from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3] We
[Paul, Silas and Timothy] ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren,
as is {only} fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of
each one of you toward one another grows {ever} greater.” Their prayer is based
on the spiritual growth of those they are praying for, and again he is focusing
on that application to others. [4] “therefore, we
ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance
and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you
endure.” They didn’t whine about all the bad things that were happening to them
but they viewed that as just a greater opportunity to see God work, to trust
God and to advance to spiritual maturity. [5] “{This is} a plain indication of
God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom
of God, for which indeed you are suffering.”
Again
he mentions thanks in 2:13 NASB “But we should always give thanks to
God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the
beginning for salvation through sanctification [experiential sanctification or
spiritual growth] by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” In the church age
spiritual growth comes through the work and dependency upon God the Holy
Spirit—and belief in the truth. It is both the Spirit of God and the Word
of God [truth] that is the basis for spiritual growth and spiritual advance.
Philemon
1:4 NASB “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my
prayers, [5] because I
hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and
toward all the saints.” There again is the emphasis on faith in Christ and then
the expression of faith, love, concern, help and aid for other believers. [6]
“{and I pray} that the fellowship of your faith may
become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for
Christ’s sake.” Again it is based on Knowledge—knowledge of the Word, it
just doesn’t happen by waving a magic wand or hoping it would be so.
There
is one passage that emphasizes ingratitude. This describes what happens in the
pagan, unbelieving segment of humanity. Romans 1:20-22 NASB “For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been
made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did
not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became
futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Arrogance
and ingratitude go hand in hand. The core of arrogance is self-absorption. You
can’t be grateful and thankful if you are self-absorbed. “Professing to be
wise, they became fools.”
Colossians
1:3 NASB “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, praying always for you.” Prayer is directed to God the Father.
Summary
1.
Paul always prays to God the Father, through or in the name
of Jesus Christ. He never directs his prayers to Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Some
people are just ambiguous in their prayers and they pray to the Lord. The Lord
can be the Father or the Son. And sometimes hymns are a little ambiguous.
2.
When Paul is writing and is with someone and includes them
he almost always includes them in the prayers. They are praying together. In
seven of Paul’s thirteen epistles he expresses thanks for something in the life
of those he is addressing.
3.
It is important for us to think through gratitude. What are
we grateful for? We forget what we have; we are so focused on what we don’t
have and are trying to get that we forget to be truly, genuinely and soul-deep
grateful for every little thing that God has given us.
There
are a number of psalms that have thanksgiving elements, some psalms are
thanksgiving psalms: Psalms 30; 32; 34; 40:1-11; 92; 116; 118; 138. These are
individual thanksgiving psalms.
Psalms
65; 67; 75; 107; 124 are communal thanksgiving psalms.
That is, the community of Israel would come together and sing these psalms in
the worship in the temple.
What
we see in the opening part of Colossians is a focus on gratitude. In terms of
translation, when
Paul says “We give thanks” the direction of the thanks is to the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The KJV puts the
“always” on the other side of “praying,” which is a participle, but the
“always” is really an adverb that modifies the main verb and it should be
translated “we always give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Then that word “praying” is a temporal participle that should be
translated “when we pray for you.” So the main thought is “we give thanks when
we pray for you.” The prayer then is directed to God the Father.
The
motivation for that comes out of a causal participle, “Because we heard of your
faith in Christ Jesus and your love for the saints.” Again and again we see
these two things together. Prayer is not an option for the believer—not
meaning bullet prayers but serious, well-constructed prayers.
William
Cooper:
What
various hindrances we meet
in coming to the mercy-seat?
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,
but wishes to be often there.
Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,
prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
gives exercise to faith and love,
brings every blessing from above.
Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
prayer makes the Christian's armor bright;
and Satan trembles, when he sees
the weakest saint upon his knees.
While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
success was found on Israel's side;
but when through weariness they failed,
that moment Amalek prevailed.
Have you no words? ah, think again,
words flow apace when you complain;
and fill your fellow-creature's ear
with the sad tale of all your care.
Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
to heaven in supplication sent;
our cheerful song would oftener be,
"Hear what the LORD has done for me."
O Lord, increase our faith and love,
that we may all thy goodness prove,
and gain from thy exhaustless store
the fruits of prayer for evermore.