DAILY READING
REFLECTION
The Beauty of Heartfelt Prayer
by Pr. Dave Mann
I have been granted the privilege of praying with believers from many different language groups around the world. For many of these languages, I have absolutely zero knowledge—not even the slightest bit of fluency to say, “Good morning. How are you?” But for some of these prayers, I can understand the heartbeat of the prayer. I am moved by the Spirit to join my heartbeat with his or hers. Sometimes it is a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of blessing, or even a prayer of lamentation. And yet, even without sufficient knowledge of grammar and vocabulary for normal comprehension, there is a spiritual communication of the longing of prayer. It is almost like I don’t need linguistic knowledge to get in the flow of the heartfelt prayer of my fellow believer who is pouring out his/her heart in prayer.
Such is the prayer of Paul in this passage. Yes, the prayer is in English. Yes, I understand the content of the prayer. But beyond that, there is a beauty. There is a rhythm. There is a heartbeat. This is a Spirit-inspired prayer.
Notice how the prayer starts with intercession for the Colossians, asking God’s blessing upon them. But not long after the start of the interceding, the focus of the prayer is turned, drawn to magnify God and his marvelous work in Christ, which He has already given us. Logically, based on the generosity of what God has already given us in His own Son, what else dare we ask for? And yet, our loving Father urges us to keep on asking, to pray like the persistent widow, to cast our cares upon Him. It is as if He still has more that He wants to bestow upon us. He wants to give us Himself! The healings and the blessings and the restoration of relationships are small potatoes.
Take a moment right now to read through this prayer again and allow your heart to be pulled by the Spirit through the rhythm and beauty of these words.
Many times, we say that we will pray for someone. Maybe the need is physical healing; maybe there is brokenness in the family; perhaps there are needs for which there seems to be no resolution. We often don’t know how to formulate an appropriate prayer, because we don’t know exactly what to ask for.
This prayer is a good place to start, no matter what the need is.
PRAYER
Pray Colossians 1:9-20 as your prayer for the most recent person you promised to pray for.
