Midweek Echo
Midweek Echo is a simple reminder of Sunday’s message—something to help you recall what you heard, reflect on what it means, and live it out through the week. It’s a way to stay rooted in God’s Word, remembering that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17 NIV).
Talking to God About People
Colossians 1:3–12
Long before many of us came to know Jesus, someone was likely praying for us. Perhaps it was a parent, grandparent, friend, pastor, or someone whose prayers we never knew about. Before we understood what God was doing in our lives, someone was talking to God about us.
That same connection between prayer and the spread of the gospel appears throughout Colossians. Paul had influenced Epaphras, Epaphras carried the good news of Jesus to Colossae, and a church was born. Now Paul is praying for the people whose lives had been changed through that ministry. Prayer and witness are intertwined.
Paul’s prayer begins with thanksgiving: “We always thank God…when we pray for you” (Colossians 1:3). Prayers of thanksgiving are a powerful reminder of who God is and what God has done - and that the battle belongs to the Lord. (2 Chronicles 20:15)
But Paul also prays for particular people. He doesn’t simply pray generally for God to work in the world. He says, “we have not stopped praying for you” (v. 9). That invites us to ask: Who am I praying for? Who has God placed in my life—a family member, friend, neighbor, coworker, or classmate; who needs to experience the love and grace of Jesus?
Something also happens to us when we pray for people. As we regularly bring someone before God, we begin to see them differently. We become more attentive to their lives, more aware of their struggles, and more sensitive to where God may already be working.
And we pray for more than an opportunity to have a spiritual conversation. Paul describes the gospel as “bearing fruit and growing” (v. 6), and then prays that the Colossians themselves will bear fruit and grow in their knowledge of God (v. 10). We pray that the good news will take root; that people will come to know Christ, grow in Christ, and eventually bear fruit through which others may come to know God.
We don’t just pray for the mission. Prayer is part of the mission.
Prayer: Almighty God, thank You for those who prayed for me; bring particular people to my heart today, work in their lives and in mine, and may the good news of Jesus take root and bear fruit through us. Amen.
- Pastor Steve Johnson, September 30, 2026