In writing to the Colossians, Paul indirectly provided to us a model for how to pray for others. The first thing he did was to thank God for the Colossians and their faith: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” (Colossians 1:3 NIV). This is something many of us do not do often enough. In our eagerness to “fix” people (especially our relatives and friends), we neglect to thank God that they exist, that they are in our lives, and that there are good things in their lives. Those good things might be faith in God, they might be movement toward faith, they might be just the reality of God’s love and the possibility that they might come to faith, or they might be a range of gifts, talents, and blessings that God has given them. Before trying to fix people, we should first appreciate them for who they are. 

Second, Paul prayed, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives…growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might” (1:9-10). Paul had already stated that the Colossians were Christians and knew God, but he prayed that that knowledge would increase, that they would learn to know God better, that they would be drawn closer to God. Of all the things that people on our prayer list need, this is the starting point. People need to know God and be in a deep relationship with Him. That needs to be true before anything else can happen. Jesus taught, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39). It is only when we love God first that we can go on to love our neighbor. Jesus added that “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40). Jesus also taught that, rather than worry about food and clothes and other physical things, we should “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” and then Jesus added that if we do this, “all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

Third, Paul prayed that the Colossian Christians would “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work” and “have great endurance and patience” (1:10-11). That is, he prayed that they would live out their faith in Jesus in daily life.

Fourth, Paul prayed that the Colossian Christians would be “giving joyful thanks to the Father” (1:12). That is, he prayed that they would be thankful as he was.

What is not present in this prayer is what we commonly pray for—health, a job, money, success. They are the “other things” that will be added if we do the first things. Paul truly had his focus on heavenly things, not the physical things of earth. He had his priorities straight.