Pray the Whole Prayer (Friday Devotional)

“May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

- Colossians 1:11-12

Certain prayers are easier than others. When you ask God for a blessing—over your meal, your day, your home, your work, your church, or your child—you probably don’t struggle with making that request. After all, if God gives you what you want, you benefit. The same goes for prayers for protection, forgiveness, and especially prayers of thanksgiving. When God has made you a winner or you’re asking him to do so, those prayers roll right off the tongue.

So most of the blessing Paul extends on the church’s behalf in Colossians 1:11-12 is the kind of prayer you’d like to see someone extend on your behalf. “May you be strong”—check. “Joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light”—check. These are the kinds of things you want to hear in prayers offered on your behalf, because these are the kinds of prayers that, properly answered, make you a winner.

But the middle part of Paul’s blessing may rub you the wrong way: “may you be prepared to endure everything with patience.” Patience? Who said anything about that? Endure everything? Wait, wouldn’t it be simpler for me not to have to endure anything?

This aspect of Paul’s blessing makes an assumption we’re not comfortable with—that trials, suffering, and loss are a part of the Christian life. Jesus told us that if you want to be his disciple, it means taking up your cross, and we tend to misinterpret what he meant by that. We assume it means we should live like Jesus, but forget that it means we should also be willing to suffer like Jesus. We assume it means we should follow Jesus, but forget where he ultimately led. We assume it means we should honor Jesus, but then tend to honor only the parts we’re comfortable with.

The truth of discipleship, as preached and embodied by both Christ and the apostles, is that sometimes life doesn’t go your way, that sometimes on the road to glory you must first carry a cross. Christ did not save us so that we might escape the problems this world throws our way, but so that we might be lights in the darkness. So as you turn your eyes toward heaven in prayer, may you pray not only for strength to overcome your tribulations and for the joy of victory over them, but for the patience to endure them.