Colossians 1:3–14

Thanksgiving

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints ⁵because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, ^ethe gospel ⁶that has come to you. It is bearing fruit ^fand growing all over the world, ^gjust as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God’s grace ^hin the truth. ^ij7You learned this from Epaphras, ^kour dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah ^lon your ^mbehalf, ⁸and he has told us about your love in the Spirit. ⁿ

Prayer for Spiritual Growth

⁹For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking ^othat you may be filled with the knowledge ^pof His will ^qin all wisdom and spiritual understanding, ^r10so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work ^sand growing in the knowledge of God. ^t11May you be strengthened ^uwith all power, ^vaccording to His glorious ^wmight, for all endurance and patience, with joy ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you ^xto share in the saints’ ^yinheritance in the light. ^z13He has rescued ^aus from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom ^bof the Son ^cHe loves. ^d14We have redemption, ^ethe forgiveness of sins, in Him.