< Back

Read: Colossians 1:9-11
Listen: Colossians 1

Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience. Colossians 1:11

 Paul writes these words from prison. He knows firsthand what it means to endure unwanted, difficult, and painful circumstances. He also understands the need for patience with difficult people who have wrongly accused him. So, when he prays for the believers in Colossae to be strengthened with all power, he’s not offering empty encouragement. He is praying from experience of having received the strength to endure and exercise patience. He prays for God-sized strength—power according to his glorious might. The kind of power that created the universe and raised Jesus from the dead. Paul knows the Colossians cannot manufacture it from within themselves. Living a worthy life includes being strengthened with power from God himself.

We can pray for that same power for ourselves and the people we love. Difficult circumstances and people often expose how little power we have on our own. Lengthy seasons of unemployment. A struggling marriage. A health diagnosis that changes everything. The ache of desire to be married. Caring for an aging parent or a wayward child. In those moments, the answer is not to dig deeper or try harder. The answer is to remain in Christ—to stay connected to the Vine and draw on his strength, not our own (John 15:5). Being strengthened by his power is how we live worthy in the long, difficult seasons. We need God-sized power.

PRAYER DAY #45: Think of someone facing a difficult circumstance or relationship. Pray for them: “Father, strengthen _________ with your glorious might.” Then send them a text to let them know you prayed for them today.

 

 Learn more about Paul’s prayer for the Colossians on this week’s episode of the Beyond the Weekend podcast. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube HERE.