“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:3-14 (NAU)
Today I humbly submit the following prayer for each person who reads these words.
Dear Father, I thank you for these wonderful people who allow me to minister to them in this manner. I sincerely pray that you will fill them with the wonderful knowledge of your will. Give to each one the spiritual wisdom needed to understand your will and empower him or her to live as a worthy disciple of Jesus Christ. Enable us all to please the Lord in every aspect of our lives and give us the strength to produce good results in all we do. Holy Father, enable each of us to increase in knowing you. Strengthen us with your power and empower us to be patient and steadfast as disciples of Christ. As we live our lives, in 2006, help us to joyfully give thanks for the eternal inheritance that you have provided to us. Now I thank you, dear God for rescuing each one of us from the kingdom of darkness. Thank you for transferring us into your kingdom of light. Thank you for redeeming each of us and for your forgiveness of our sins. I humbly commit these precious saints into your safekeeping and make these requests in Jesus’ name. AMEN
I wish each of you a Happy New Year. May 2006 be a year of growing in the Lord and in the power of his strength,
Pastor Smith