“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints…”  (Col. 1:3-4)

The last message focused on our prayers naturally arising from a thirst for God. David famously said that “As a deer pants for water, so pants my soul for you, O God.” (Ps. 42:1) Building on this principle, those longing to know God more fully are the ones who understand the importance of praying for others, both believers and nonbelievers, beginning with the people in your own Personal Mission Field.

Paul embodied this. In his letter to the Philippians, he had prayed, “that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” (Phil. 3:10) One seeking the fellowship of Christ, including His sufferings, is serious about knowing God.

This focus on knowing God more fully also led Paul to pray that others would come to know Him. For believers, that they would grow in their understanding of God; for non-believers, that they would come to know Him. We see this heartfelt desire woven in his letters. Amazingly, Paul wrote two letters to churches he had never visited: Colossians and Romans.

A church content with a meager understanding of God will not be willing to endure sufferings, nor will it be bold in asking that non-believers will come to know Him. Having been satisfied so easily themselves, they see no need to ask others to hunger and thirst after God.

When revival descends upon our land, when God’s Spirit rolls down upon us like a river, it will manifest itself with a Church thirsting after God, even to the point of suffering. A Church so consumed with God will pray that others may be satisfied as well.

Staring with you and me.