A Prayer from Colossians – Ch 1 -3

Lord, fill me and strengthen me.

⁹Lord, I pray, asking and believing, that You will fill me with the knowledge of Your will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

¹⁰ Lord, fill me, so that I may walk in a manner worthy of you, and that I may be fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You, my Lord and my God.

 Lord, I pray, asking and believing, that you will strengthen me with all power, according to your glorious might, so that I may have great endurance and patience with joy.

(Repeat above, believing this for yourself, personally.)

Thank You for bringing me into Your Light.

I thank you, Father, for you have qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ Thank you for delivering me from the domain of darkness and transferring me into the kingdom of your beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom I have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ I rejoice in You, Jesus, knowing that you are just like your Father, the invisible and eternal God, and that you were the firstborn of all creation.

Confession of Faith in Jesus and Who He Is.

 ¹⁶ I believe in You, Christ Jesus, that by You all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through You and by You. ¹⁷ You are before all things, and in You, Lord Jesus, all things hold together. ¹⁸ You are the head of the body, the church. You are the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and in everything You are preeminent [above all]. ¹⁹ For in You, Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and I believe that You are reconciling all things to yourself, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood that you shed on the cross.

²¹ Although I was once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil not good, YOU have now reconciled me - in your body of flesh by your death - in order to present ME holy and blameless and above reproach before You.   ²³ Be merciful to me that I may continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that I have heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation^[g] under heaven.

Rejoicing, working, proclaiming: Christ in me the hope of glory.

²⁴ May I rejoice even when I am suffering.  Thank you for calling me to minister and proclaim the Gospel, according to the unique stewardship that you give to me.  May I work to make your Word fully known. ²⁶   Lord, I pray that you will allow me to be part of revealing the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but revealed to us in Christ.  Make known again in my generation the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is YOU, Christ Jesus, dwelling in ME and in each of us. You are the Hope of Glory – You are in me! ²⁸ May I proclaim YOU, admonishing and teaching everyone whom you’ve given me, with all wisdom, that they may mature in Christ. ²⁹ May this be something I work hard for using your strength -  struggling with all Your energy that You powerfully work within me.

Ch 2

I pray that You will encourage our hearts, Lord, and knit us together in love, so that we may reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding.  I want to live in this reality: the knowledge of God's mystery, which is You, Christ Jesus.  In YOU are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ 

May I know the mysteries of hidden treasure – wisdom and knowledge that are found in You, alone!

I pray that no one may delude me with plausible arguments. ⁵ I pray that I will retain the firmness of my faith in You, Christ Jesus.

⁶ Therefore, just as I have received you, Christ Jesus, as my Lord, may I walk in You, ⁷ rooted, grounded, and built up in YOU and established in my faith and may I live a life that is overflowing with thanksgiving.

⁸ I will see to it that no one takes me captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 

Confession of Faith

⁹ I confess that in Christ Jesus dwells the whole fullness of the Godhead in bodily form, ¹⁰ and I confess the reality that at the same time, I have been (and therefore I am) filled with Christ, who is the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹  In Christ I have also had my heart circumcised through Christ, by putting off the body of the flesh, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism.  And I also confess that I have been raised with Christ through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Christ Jesus from the dead. 

¹³ Although without Christ I was dead in my trespasses and flesh, You, the gracious God, have made me alive together with Christ, and you have forgiven me all my trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against me with its legal demands. You set it all aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And I rejoice that YOU have disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Christ!

Rejecting Religious Pride

¹⁶ Because I know that Christ is alive in me, I will let no one pass judgment on me in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. ¹⁷ I recognize that these were and are simply a shadow of the things to come.  The substance – the eternal reality - belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ For these reasons I will pay no mind to those who would try to disqualify me, by insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,^[d] puffed up with spiritual pride. 

¹⁹ I will not turn from the TRUTH; instead I will hold fast to the Head (you Christ Jesus), from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

²⁰ With Christ I have died to the elemental spirits of the world.  Therefore I am not still alive to the ways of this world.  I will not allow myself to be duped into submitting to religion’s regulations— ²¹ “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings. ²³  I acknowledge that although these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body,  they are actually of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Ch3 Since I have been raised with Christ, I will seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 I will set my mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For I have died, and my life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And I know that when Christ who is my life appears, then I also will appear with him in glory. 5 I choose to put to death what is earthly and base within me:[b] sexual immorality, impure passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6  I recognize that on account of these the wrath of God is coming.[c] 7 Although at one time I walked in these paths, 8 now I choose to put all these behind me: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and unwholesome talk.  I won’t put others down.  9 Instead, I choose to tell the truth, build others up, and not lie; I will put off the old self[d] with its practices.  10 I will put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, [Catholic or Protestant; religious or free; or any other categories that divide us]; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 As one of God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, I put on a compassionate heart that is full of kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.13 I choose to bear with others in love, forgiving others, as the Lord has forgiven me.  14 And above all these I choose to put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And I choose to let the peace of Christ rule in my heart.; I choose to be thankful. 16 and to let the Word of Christ dwell in me richly.  I ask that you will help me, Lord, to teach and admonish others in all wisdom.  I choose a life of singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in my heart to You, my Lord and my God. I will sing in the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, and live in the Spirit. I choose to 17do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through him. Prayer for Help in Family Life: 18 Help me, Lord, to submit to my husband, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Help my husband, to love me, and to not be harsh with me. 20 Help my children to obey their parents in everything, wanting to please you, Lord. 21 May my husband not provoke our children, lest they become discouraged.  May I Obey You as Your Bondservant 22 As your bondservant,[f] Christ Jesus, may I obey You in everything with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 In whatever I am called to do, may I work heartily, as for You, Lord, and not for men, 24 knowing that I will receive an inheritance from YOU as my reward. 25 May I not concern myself with those who do me wrong, knowing that the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, for You are just. I trust you, Lord, to be my great defender and my great reward.