5 Essential Prayer Requests for Believers

There is a lot of talk these days about the cost of fuel for our cars and for heating our homes as well. Projections for the cost of these life necessities are predicted to continue to rise both in the States and around the world.

But you didn’t come to Instaencouragements to be reminded of the pressure inflation puts on our pocketbooks, now did you? You probably came here looking for some encouragement during days that seem to abound with discouragement and bad news.

Praise God that we have His Word to run to for comfort when prices soar and life seems to be out of control. Considering the current fuel situation, one passage caught my eye recently and reminded me that the “fuel” for our walking closely with the Lord is found in His Word and through prayer.

​In times like these more than ever, we need to “fuel” ourselves with God’s Word and pray like never before. Colossians 1 includes a prayer that Paul wrote concerning his desire for the believers in the church at Colossae. We can learn some balance for our lives by observing the purpose for prayer that Paul reveals and the petitions that Paul brings on behalf of the believers. 

Look at Colossians 1:9a – “For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you….” What “cause” is he referring to? What is the purpose of his prayer for them? Paul was encouraged by the faith and love these believers had shown (vs. 4). They were living out the hope of the inheritance that they would one day receive in Heaven (vs. 5). He was encouraged by the fruit that was being displayed in their lives (vs. 6) and it led him to pray for these believers with unceasing prayer. Interesting to me that it wasn’t persecution, difficulty, or struggle in the lives of these believers that was the purpose behind Paul’s prayer. It was, instead, seeing believers living faithfully before their God.

Do we only pray when things are bad in our lives? Or do we find many occasions in our lives to praise God and bring petitions to Him because of observing and serving alongside faithful believers?

​Maybe our spiritual fuel crisis begins at the point of the purpose of our prayers. Don’t get me wrong…we should pray when things are difficult. But if that is the ONLY time we are praying, our spiritual lives are completely out of balance.

What petitions does Paul bring to the Lord in prayer for the believers in the church at Colossae? Look with me at Colossians 1:9b-12.

“…and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Colossians 1:9b-12

I see five petitions here in this prayer. Let’s look at them together.

1. Paul prayed the people would be “filled with the knowledge of his will."

Paul knew the Colossians needed to know God in order to follow His will, and the same is true of any believer today. We need to be in God’s Word seeking to know Him more each day. And we need to be praying that for ourselves and for those in our sphere of influence. We won’t love and serve God as we ought if we don’t first know Him for Who He is. To know Him is to love Him! What are you doing to increase your knowledge of God? Have you prayed about this need in your life recently?

2. Paul prayed the people would “walk worthy of the Lord.”

Walking is a common motif for the Christian life. What does it mean to “walk worthy”? This phrase is explained further in verse 10. Paul was praying for these people to bear spiritual fruit through the way they serve God with their lives and again in the increasing of their knowledge of Him. The more we get to know God, the more we love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we will want to serve Him! Walking worthy of the Lord is a prayer request that we should be bringing often to the Lord on our own behalf and for others as well.

3. Paul prayed the people would be “strengthened with all might.”

Do you ever feel weak in the fight? Paul was asking God to strengthen the believers with His power and might. We know the fight in this Christian life is one that is not of this earth. We are fighting a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). We cannot go into this fight in our own human strength and expect to win. Paul was praying for spiritual strength for the fight. Who comes to mind in your sphere of influence that needs you to be praying for strength for them in the fight?

4. Paul prayed the people would have “all patience, and longsuffering with joyfulness.”

When we get weary in the fight, we often are short on patience, longsuffering, and joy, are we not? Paul knew that these things are necessary for the believers, and they only come from the Lord. This shortlist sounds like a portion of Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. These character traits are developed by the Spirit in our lives. We must be relying on God’s strength and be submitted to the Spirit to allow Him to produce these qualities in our lives. I’ve heard people say not to pray for patience because God always answers that one by making us wait! But the truth is, we need to be praying that however God deems necessary that He would develop these qualities in our lives and the lives of those we love.

5. Paul’s last petition was really giving praise to the Father on behalf of these people.

Paul finished his prayer with a point of praise to the Father for doing these things in the lives of the people he was praying for. When God developed knowledge, a fruitful walk, spiritual strength, endurance, and self-restraint with joy in the lives of the people Paul was praying for, he gave thanks for that and encourages us to do the same. ​

God wants to “fuel” us by His majestic power to do the work He has called each of us to do. The access point for that fueling is a prayer that starts with the right purpose and focuses on the things we need Him to develop in our lives.

​Paul shared this prayer years ago and amazingly the price to read it and heed it has never gone up. This “fuel” is free to any who are God’s children and are seeking to draw closer to Him. Maybe we need to adjust our focus away from the struggles of today and instead to a new purpose in our petitions to the Heavenly Father.

How are you being intentional about “fueling” yourself with God’s Word and prayer today?