Praying for Others

I was listening the other day on the radio and someone was talking about how to pray for others. We often think we need to pray for the good things for others in our lives: a better house, new car, a Flip Video HD... Oh wait, thats what I want. But you get the idea. We pray for the material things that will make ourselves and others happy.

We always want to see our friends get the things that make them happy.  We don't want them suffer.  We want them t have an easy, fun life.  So what really makes us and presumably those around us happy?

 Well its not that that XBox 360 I've been begging my wife for. Sorry honey.  As always we look to the bible:

2 As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3 But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.

Psalm 68:2-4 (NJKV)

Verse 2 says it. Material things only give momentary joy. One my current Flip Video camera broke I felt like crying. Seeing a grown man cry over a video camera would not have a pretty sight. But verse 3 & 4 give the keys to happiness. Its not wishing or wanting thing: its doing the things of the Lord.

It praying to Lord, studying YAH (God's) word, and doing His will. These things only take your time to draw you closer to the creator of the universe. This is unlike the material things which more often then not takes your time away from the Lord. Yes I could expound the gospel all over the Live Network. But I know that I would end up spending more time taking out Covent troops then to give the good news.

The psalms have given me the keys to happiness: doing more to get closer to the Lord. What do I pray for others? According to Paul you pray for the same things. In his letter to the Colossians Paul didn't pray for mana from heaven. He prayed that the young Christian stayed focused on the Lord and do more for him. Don't believe me? See for yourself:

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10(a) that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, (b)being fruitful in every good work and (c)increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Colossians 1:9-12 (NKJV).

Paul starts out by saying that he keeps praying for his brothers and sister's. He doesn't just pray once but continues to pray. Then he starts to list what he prays to Lord for his new siblings in Christ:

• (9) Be filled with the knowledge of His will - This doesn't just mean memorize the bible word for word. It like the word 'grok' in the sci-fi classic 'Stranger in a Strange Land'. Paul wants the Colossians to love, understand, live, and become one with God's wisdom. At the time there were enough Pharisees who only cared about the text.  He wanted people who understand what the text meant.
• (10a) Again Paul wanted his brothers and sisters to Love things that made the Lord.
• (10b) Be he didn't want Colossia to become a church of bench warmers. He wanted people who got up and did something for the Lord. Not just in the name of Lord, but for the thier love of the Lord.  He wanted Nike Christian who 'just did it.'
• (10c) Paul wanted people who would crave the Lord's wisdom. Not just Sunday morningers*.  You know, those people who got to church Sunday out of habit or guilt. Paul prayed for people who would work for the Lords because of want and love.
• (11) In doing these things Paul desired that his friends would gain strength, learn patiences and endurance of hardship. But he wanted to learn all these things with joy in their hearts.
• Finally Paul prayed that the people in his prayer could do all this with thankfulness to Lord.  To acknowledge that all good things came and be happy with that knowledge.

Paul didn't pray for an easy life full of earthly things. He prayed for good life for of learning and doing for the Lord.

Evening - Mark 1:4

And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1:4 - NKJV

In the previous verses we find out about the 'one calling in the desert, preparing the way for the Lord.'  That man was John the Baptist (And so John came).  John came to baptize people in the far regions (baptizing in the desert region) where the poor and outcast would live.  This wasn't Levis Commons (of Perrysburg) the desert was the inner city or the east side of Toledo or small dying town with no jobs in country.

The act of baptism means to be emersion in water. At this point in Mark and Peter's narrative baptism significance was meant only as a washing of sins from one's self.  It was a physical and religious act that had to be done over and over again.  With this baptism there was no way to ever be anything but filthy in your own sins.

But John preached the full meaning of Christian baptism.  The baptism wasn't just a physical acts to makes you momentarily feel cleaner.  It is an act of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Later verses John gets into to what repentance truly is.

The word 'repentance' isn't saying your sorry for what you did.  Thats just just saying words.  Repentance is a permanent change of your actions, mind and heart.  It not a perfect change, not human can do anything perfectly.   Its a conscience choice that you make every morning you get up and every evening when you go to bed.  A new years resolution is not repentance is a single day's choice.  The change from bad habit you stick with as best as you can, and trying to be better every day is the repentance.