We are getting a lot of rain these days. When it rains like this, it is important that we do not let the damp weather get to our spirituality. Our spirituality is not based on how we feel about our surroundings, but it is based on the solid rock of Jesus and on the trustworthiness of God's Word.

Do you still remember the day when you first learned how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels? Two years ago I watched our daughter as she discovered for herself how easy it is to ride a bicycle. She found out that the best way to keep her balance on the bike was to keep pedaling and moving on rather than focusing so much on her balance. Paul's letter to the Colossian can be compared to bike riding. The apostle taught the new believers how to keep 'pedaling' in their newly found faith despite many adverse conditions they were in.

Paul's prayer is divided into two parts. The first part is on thanksgiving (vv. 3-8) and the second part is on intercession (vv. 9-14). It is true that during Paul's day the conventional letter-writing included a prayer at the beginning. Typically, after identifying the addresser and the addressee, the writer began with a short prayer to gods for the health of the recipients. What set Paul's prayer apart from the prayers in typical letters of his day was not only that the prayer was addressed to the living God rather than to gods, but also that his prayer served as the 'table of contents' for the rest of his letter. Many New Testament scholars have studied the structure of Paul's prayers and found that Paul is quite intentional about the choice of his words in the opening prayer. By carefully analyzing Paul's prayer at the beginning of his letter, one can anticipate what he is going to write.

From the letter we know that the gospel was preached to the Colossians and some believers formed a church as a result. As the message of the gospel began to sink in their lives, the believers were settling into the routine of life. However, those who were lacking in the fundamental truths of Christianity were in a danger of going back to their previous lives, namely living under a fear of spirits. False teachers preyed upon these vulnerable believers and moved in through the cracks of fear. The believers were confronted with such questions as: What is the Christian living all about? How shall we live out our calling as Christians? So let us turn our attention to the letter of Colossians, particularly to the opening prayer, and see how Paul handled this situation.

Paul gave thanks to God (vv. 3-8). Paul was thankful to God that the gospel was bearing fruit all over the world. Colossians received the gospel by Epaphras around the time when Paul was ministering in Ephesus. According to Acts 19:26, we know that the gospel was having such an impact that Demetrius, a silversmith whose temple-related business (i.e., making idol images) suffered a major blow, said, 'Paul has convinced and led astray a large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole Province of Asia.' Paul was indeed witnessing the amazing work of the Spirit. The gospel was making a huge impact in the lives of those who lived in Asia Minor. Paul was in the middle of all this. Colossae was no exception. Along with two neighboring cities, Laodicea and Hierapolis (4:13) in Lycus valley in Asia Minor, Colossae was seeing a new day with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel, Paul wrote, was changing the lives of people inside out, as described by Paul in his famous triple formula: faith in Jesus Christ, love for one another and hope in heaven.

Paul was still thankful even though he was not the one who brought the gospel to the Colossians. The gospel came to this city through his partner named Epaphras, most likely a fellow evangelist who was trained and supervised by Paul himself. Ephesus was at the time a training center. Paul ran a lecture hall called Tyrannus where both the Jews and the Gentiles came to hear him speak. This went on for two years (Acts 19:9-10). It was during this time that Paul probably trained Epaphras and sent him to Colossae to preach the gospel. How thankful it must have been for Paul to see that those trained by him could do such a good job!

Paul interceded for the Colossian believers (vv. 9-12)

Some say that a believer's spirituality maturity is reflected by the depth and intensity of his or her intercession. If that is correct, well, I know I have a long way to go. When I visited Toronto last month, a prayer warrior in her 70's told me that she never failed to pray for my family and my ministry. When I heard that she herself went through a major operation and her husband had been quite sick for some time, I was really humbled by this lady's spiritual maturity. If I were in her situation, would I spare the time to pray for others?

We can see Paul's spiritual maturity here. His thankfulness quickly changed to a serious intercession because Paul knew that the Colossians needed to be upheld in prayer. The intercessory prayer had two parts. In the first part Paul prayed for the knowledge of God's will to be given to the believers at Colossae. Why was this such a pressing concern? We must note here that the Colossians believers were faced with many false teachings, later came to be known as the 'Colossian Heresy.' The heretical teaching included an enormous respect given to the powers of the spirit world (note Paul's prohibition on the worship of angels in 2:18; cf. 1:16,20; 2:15). To these false teachers, feasts and fasts, new moon and sabb ath celebrations were still very important as the expression of their faith (2:16f.).

The false teachers also taught 'hollow and deceptive philosophy, human tradition, and the basic principles of this world' (2:8). The term 'the basic principles' of the world, which is just one word in Greek (stoickea), is difficult to translate. In Paul's day, this word referred to an invisible order of spirits that controlled human behavior. But in a shrewd way, these false teachers tried to control people's behavior by reminding the believers they were still under 'the basic principles' of the world and imposed various rules on them (2:20-23). That is why Paul tried to counteract this teaching by using such words as knowledge, wisdom, understanding and mystery (P.T. O'Brien).

The second part of the intercession was on lifting up the Colossian believers before God so that they might live a life worthy of the Lord. Hw did Paul intercede on behalf of the Colossian believers? There are four participles that follow. According to the Greek grammar, participles usually serve as a modifiers for the main verb. In vs. 10 the main verb of Paul's intercession is, 'live a life' or more literally 'walk.' The participles explain further what it means to 'live a life worthy of the Lord.'

a.. Bearing fruit
b.. Growing in the knowledge of God
c.. Being strengthened with all power
d.. Giving thanks joyfully

Bearing fruit in this context has to do with the work of the gospel (vs. 6). The changed lives of the Colossians were the fruit that the gospel bore. Now they were in turn encouraged to be part of bearing fruit in other people's lives, that is, continuing the work of the gospel started by Epaphras. Believers must also bear fruit (John 15:5). Not bearing any fruit is like a bike rider who falls to the ground because he does not keep peddling.

The next participle, 'growing in the knowledge of God,' is organically connected to 'bearing fruit.' They are two sides of the same coin. Paul prays in Philemon 6, 'I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.' I am convinced that when we are faithful in sharing who Jesus is with others, we will constantly discover something new about Jesus. Are you bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God at this moment?

Living a life worthy of the Lord also means 'being strengthened with all power.' No doubt it refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit and our utter dependence on Him. The Spirit gives us the power to endure and to be patient in this world. Moreover, when we are in God's will, becoming what he commands us to be and doing what He has called us to do, then we can't help but 'give thanks joyfully' to the Father. That is what 'living a life worthy of the Lord is all about.' And that is how Paul describes it.

People often reduce religion into a form or a system to help live their lives with more power and more luck coming their way. When I visited a Buddhist temple in Korea last month, I went to a shrine where the figure of Buddha was sitting. People came in and prostrated before the figure. They were sincerely praying to Buddha for something. Many paper tags hanging from the ceiling of the sanctuary caught my attention. So I began reading them one by one. It had names and addresses of the previous visitors who prayed to Buddha. In the request section of the tag, most people wrote down topics like 'success in entrance exam,' 'health' and so on.

Even in Christian faith we find ourselves tempted to reduced our faith into a form or a system which can help us live with more power over unexpected things and bring more luck to our way. It, I suppose, can be called 'Folk Christianity.' Many people in the Philippines pray to Maria, to Santo Ninyo, and to Black Nazarene. They have specific prayer requests. However, if Paul's intercessory prayer is teaching us anything this morning, it is the important biblical truth that Christianity is not about how to have more power and more luck in this life; rather it is all about how to live a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him. In other words, Christian living is not about us, but about God!

Paul reminded them of what God has done in their lives (vv. 13-14)

In the closing section of his prayer, Paul reminds them that when people put their trust in Jesus, something amazing takes place. Paul says that the Colossians have been 'rescued' from the dominion of darkness and they have been 'brought into the Kingdom of the Son.' Therefore, there is now no more need to live in fear. The old has gone and the new has come. In Jesus, Paul says, there is redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Brothers and sisters, are you living a life worthy of the Lord? Jesus died for our sins. Jesus died so that we might have a new life. We need not live in fear. We need not live for ourselves anymore. May the Lord give you victory this week!