Prayer Works Morning Devotion September 28, 2026

A Chapter By Chapter Study Of The Epistles:

Colossians Chapter 4

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

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A very good morning to you everybody. I pray you had a wonderful restful night and you were rested, ready for another day with the Lord. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank You for this day that You have made.

We are going to rejoice in it and be glad in it because You have given us new mercies for this particular day and we claim ours today knowing Lord that as we woke up today You had a massive plan already in place for every single one of us to do and to be.

You already know the people that we will meet today people we will interact with today and Father I know that inside of us there is something that we carry we ought to share with those people that we will meet.

So I pray Lord that if You give us opportunities to interact with the world today. Help us to see it in Your eyes. Help us to see what You are seeing. Help us to see what You desire for this world to be and to be done.

And I pray, Lord, that as we see, we want to be quick, to be doers, to do the word of God. And continue to remind us that we are the light, we are the salt, and we cannot be hidden on a hill.

And I pray Lord that as we walk about, I pray for great faith to be exercised and I pray Lord for great wisdom to be exercised in everything that we will do today and in the work that we will do today.

And I pray Lord that You give our children the same blessings that we asked for this morning we thank You for the many things that You are doing and now open our eyes and the eyes of our understanding as we look at the scriptures.

And commune with one another and fellowship with the Holy Spirit as You guide us through this life and this treacherous terrain that we are all part of.

We bless You this morning and we honor You in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray Amen and Amen. Well brothers and sisters I pray you had a lovely weekend that you did whatever that was on your schedule to do.

And we are here to start another week that the Lord has blessed us with and we are going to walk in it in full faith and today we close out the book of Colossians and to just kind of recap, Paul is writing a letter to a church that he never started.

He heard of them because a brother came to see him while he's in prison and to explain to him what was going on over there in Colossae. And Paul writes this letter to encourage them but also to state some things they ought to do and to follow.

And the whole entire epistle is just centered around this thing that Christ is there. That Christ came to establish a whole new humanity. I want you to think about this, guys.

Life as it was and as it is today is really centered around cultural perspectives that drive people in the environment or in the places they live. America is a whole different cultural system that drives people who are not saved.

I think a few years ago we talked about the entertainment calendar that exists for this country. Which is a driving force to how people function, to how people do things, to how companies operate.

It's a function to daily life for people who are not saved. And if you go to any other country, it's the same thing. And the same could be said about the people in Colossae. 

That they were originally run by the Greeks and the Romans at any given time whenever each empire was powerful. And then Jesus comes as introduced to him and Jesus' goal when He came was to create a whole entire humanity of people that have a different perspective of what human existence looked like.

And Paul keeps reiterating this in all the letters that Paul writes, he points back to Christ because he knows in Christ that's where the hope for glory is. It's never going to be outside of Christ.

The hope of glory will always be inside of Christ. And Paul, in his writings, in his letters to the children he loved, to the churches he never met, it was always going to be centered around Christ and the humanity that Christ was creating for Himself.

That's what Jesus came to do. And you've heard me say this over and over again. There are only three races in the world. Jews, Gentiles, and Christians which is the humanity that Jesus studied for Himself.

That when you believe in him and you come into his auspices, you will become like Him. And he explains a new way of living to the whole church in Colossians. And pretty much this whole entire book was centered around a new life.

Our believers ought to set their minds on things above, the virtues of love. It was also, and Paul also kind of breaks it down to give them how they ought to live daily life.

And it is in this book he also warns, like he have always warned every other church, against false teachings and false prophets. Again, pointing out this one fact, Christ is enough. And without Him, we were either going to be Gentiles or Jews.

But he came to create a humanity for himself that he was going to instill inside of them the hope of glory which he carries. So Paul writes to this church, and you see in this book too, that he also.

At the end of this chapter, he says, well, when you are done reading this letter for yourselves, I want you to go read it in the church in Laodicea. So let's read chapter number 4 together.

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair because you know that you also have a master in heaven. Number two, verse 2, devote yourselves.

This is further instructions to this particular church, which, and you can see why it is captured and canonized in the scripture because it also applies to us today. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Two things that as a believer you must always do. Be watchful and give thanks to the Lord in all circumstances because it is one of God's will and pleasure for you to do. So be watchful, pay attention to the world and to the things around you.

Why are we being asked to be watchful? He says because that day comes like a thief. We cannot be oblivious to what's going on around us. We cannot because if we are, we will be affected.

So be watchful and thankful and pray for us too that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains. So Paul is in prison.

He's like, yeah I'm here because of this mystery of following after Christ. And I'm in chains for it. So pray for me so that I can continue doing this. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should. Paul is worried about him speaking the gospel the right way all the time.

Then he gives us instructions. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders. Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

The way you talk, the way I talk, should always carry these things. Grace, not just grace, full of grace, seasoned with salt because we are the salt of the earth, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Including people who are not saved, people that you meet, people who are angry with you people who might scream at you people who might be racially abusive people who might be good at you.

It says you have to carry wisdom and you have to have conversation your conversation full of grace seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone.

If you don't have grace, if you're conversing the season with salt, you will never know how to answer everybody. Final greetings. Tychicus would tell you all the news about me.

That the brother we had gone to Paul to tell him about the church in He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord. I'm sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about how circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.

He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother who is one of you. So Onesimus had gone to tell Paul about what was happening in Colossae.

And Paul says, well, you're going to go back with Tychicus so they can explain to the Christians over there what is going on. And they will tell you everything that is happening here.

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you these greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about him. if he comes to you. Welcome him. Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings.

These are the Jews. These are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God. And they have proved a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you and the servant of Christ, sends greetings.

He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God. Mature and fully assured, I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and to those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, Damar sends greetings. Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea and Nympha and the church in her house.

Number 16, after this letter has been read to you see that it is also read in the church in Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodiceans. Now, brothers and sisters, this church that Paul is saying after you read this letter, you go and read it over there.

It's the same church that is mentioned in the book of Revelation. And in the book of Revelation, Jesus is saying I'm going to speech you out to the same church because you are lukewarm.

You are either you're not even cold and you're not even hot you are always traveling the middle of the lane and I wish you were one or the other then we would know how to deal with you but you know what I'm going to speech you out.

So which means that when that letter, when the book of Revelation is written, which is at the end of humanity, it means they didn't take heed of this letter, which Paul was writing to them.

Which meant that the cultural perspective they lived in had so much influence in them that they could not change to become the new humanity that Jesus had created for Himself to present to the Father as holy and acceptable.

So which meant that when this letter is written and Paul is saying go read it to them, then the issues they were having then, they never addressed them. Hence, finally at the end of all things, a letter is written to them that I'm going to speak to you because of your refusal to change.

And the reason we are mentioning this, one of the worst things that can happen to us is that God warns us and give us instructions of things that we ought to change and to be.

And somehow in the journey and in the course of this life, we just never address it until we get to this place where another letter is written and we are told that I'm going to speak to you because you decided to straddle the middle of the lane rather to go left or right.

So I said, read this letter to them. Verse 17, tell Archippus to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord. I, Paul, write these greetings in my own hand. Remember my chains.

Grace be with you. Brothers and sisters, again, we want to reiterate this fact. Jesus came to create a humanity for Himself. People who operate and live like Him, guided by wisdom, guided by spirit, allowing Christ to be the hope of glory in your life.

Because when you do that, your conversations will be seasoned with wisdom and salt that you are able to answer every single person you ever meet. And this is not because you know, but because of who is inside of you.

Remember Christ, everything was created for Him. So which meant that all things that needs to be known are inside of Him. That's why it can be easy for you and I to answer everyone.

Why? Because the person who is inside of us, who is Christ, knows all things and all things were created for him. So you can see that as believers, It's actually impossible for you and I to find ourselves lost in this treacherous terrain for whatever reason.

Because the person who is inside of you, who is Christ, the hope of glory, He is not confused about things. He is not trying to figure it out. He's not trying to see if this is going to go the right way or not.

He is all things, beginning to the end. He knows every single detail there is to know. So it's impossible for us to actually fail. It's impossible as a believer for you to fail.

Because whatever mistake or challenges that comes your way, God always takes them and use them for your advantage. All things work together for those who are called according to His purpose and plan.

So Paul is writing to this church that he had never planted or met but encouraging them. Now I want you to think about the people who were sent to go see Paul. Why did they go to see Paul in the first place?

I'm sure they have heard about this brother and how his view for Christ was. And they had to go and send him. Like, yeah, go see Paul. He's in prison.

They could have sent for so many missionaries but they send for Paul and Paul writes and pens this incredible phenomenal letter to this church, to encourage them to remind them of why Christ is better and who Christ is and if you see as you.

As we all read these four chapters and you can see Paul quotes from Genesis, Exodus, Proverbs, Psalms to just to encourage these people about who Christ is this is the book we get Christ the hope of glory.

So brothers and sisters we ought to pay attention, we ought to walk in wisdom we ought to speak and answer everyone because we know who is in us. And we ought, like Paul is instructing this church, to continue to walk in Christ fully, to make sure that culture never affects us.

Remember, culture is the way people think. That's what culture is. And the Lord came to create a whole entire humanity that have different ways of doing things and functioning and talking and interacting with one another.

And we find all these instructions in the scriptures so that we can carry ourselves different from the people of this earth. And I'm sure nowadays you can see why we have to carry ourselves differently because the world is changing rapidly and so fast.

And somebody has to remain steadfast in Christ in order to continue to provide the answers this entire world needs. And it might as well be you and I. Let us pray. Father, we glory in You.

We thank You for Your words and Your spirit that governs the very true existence of who we are. We thank You for wisdom and revelation knowledge that You continue to give to us. We thank You for strength, courage, boldness and determination to pursue what we know is right and true.

We thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the advantage that You gave us, to constantly explain all that You meant for us to hear, to know and to walk in. I pray Lord that as You bless us in the many ways that You bless us.

I pray Lord that we become a blessing to others because we carry You inside of us. Continue to reveal Yourself strong in our lives so that we can continue standing on Christ the solid rock.

Thank You for being a place where You can we can run to and Father I pray that through our efforts and through the things that we do, may we touch others for You ,the Great Commission is alive and well above the many things that we do.

This is the only thing that You gave us as an instruction to do to preach this gospel, this good news of this kingdom, so that many can find Christ while He is still near. I pray for our children. I pray for all that You are doing in their lives.

Continue to protect them from harm in danger, seen or unseen as they go to school. and they are part of the culture and a part of the schooling system.

I pray, Lord, that in spite of that, let Christ in them be the hope of glory that others will see, others will respect, and others will marvel and desire to be. We pray for their teachers.

We pray, Lord, for the schooling system that You may raise men and women of God who care about spiritual things. We pray, Lord, for strength and wisdom for this upcoming generation, for they need it.

I pray for the elderly among us. Continue to strengthen them, continue to protect them from falling and any kind of thing that can derail their lives.

I pray, Lord, for those who might be dealing with sickness and disease, Sarge, Mother Russell, we continue to tear down before You as we continue to await for Your hands to do what You desire to do in their lives.

I pray, Lord, for Your blessing for those who are taking care of elderly people or family members that God, You continue to give us the strength to provide for our needs according to Your riches and glory.

Father, continue to have Your way in our lives. Continue, Lord, to open our eyes and our understanding so that we can match these current challenges that we are all facing. We know we wouldn't have lived in any other era except this one.

Because God, You knew that we had the ability, the qualities, the strength, the wisdom to live and to be sustained in these challenges that we see around us.

So I pray, Lord, that we will not be afraid of anything, that we will not let worry drive us, that Father, we will stand in faith knowing, Lord, that You who have the ability to feed the birds of the air that don't have a plan daily, that You take care of us.

So I pray, Lord, that You continue to open doors that no man would shut so that as we walk in and do what You're calling us to do, that this kingdom that we are part of continues to grow and to stand as a standard of how we ought to live life in this earth.

Father, I pray that may our times together continue to be filled by Your Spirit, by wisdom, even tomorrow as we start a whole different book. Help us to grow. Help us to grow in You, Lord.

Above all things, help us to grow so that we can continue to be a standard. I thank You for what You have given us and I thank You for what You will give us.

We stand in the congregation of the might and continue to proclaim with everyone around the world that Christ is and He is the hope of glory in us. As we start this new week, help us to walk in expectation.

And as long as we have faith, we know something is coming. So Father, open our eyes so we can see what You're doing, so we can ready ourselves today for that which is coming. Bless these Your people.

Bless every family represented here, every child, every nephew, every niece, every grandmother, every grandfather, bless our families and we will be so quick to give You the glory.

Because we know it belongs to You as we go about our business today help us to give us give us the strength to transform and to help others to come to Christ, that we will never miss an opportunity to minister this gospel to another.

And I pray Lord that You lead us not into temptation, but continue to deliver us from the evil one. For thine is Your kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen and Amen. May the Lord bless You.

May the Lord bless the widows amongst us and the families that the Lord is taking care of. That Lord, they will not want for anything, but they will continue to walk in the true measure of who God is in Jesus name.

Let us have an incredible, phenomenal day and rest of the week. And we are back here tomorrow, 7am Central and 8am Eastern Standard Time. I love you and pray for me as I pray for you. Pray for us as we pray for you and we'll see you tomorrow.