We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God's people.

The gospel keeps bringing blessings and is spreading throughout the world, just as it has among you ever since the day you first heard about the grace of God and came to know it as it really is.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the whole world is hearing about your faith.

every time I pray. I ask that God in his good will may at last make it possible for me to visit you now.

For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people,

I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers

As for me, the LORD forbid that I should sin against him by no longer praying for you. Instead, I will teach you what is good and right for you to do.

So Peter was kept in jail, but the people of the church were praying earnestly to God for him.

and every time I pray for you all, I pray with joy

For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love made you work so hard, and how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm.

pray at all times,

That is why we always pray for you. We ask our God to make you worthy of the life he has called you to live. May he fulfill by his power all your desire for goodness and complete your work of faith.

I give thanks to God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did. I thank him as I remember you always in my prayers night and day.

I remember your tears, and I want to see you very much, so that I may be filled with joy.

Brother Philemon, every time I pray, I mention you and give thanks to my God.

For in union with Christ you have become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge.

For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people,

and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him.

and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength

For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father,

I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves,

so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love.

I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment,

Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, for the glory and praise of God.

Greetings from Epaphras, another member of your group and a servant of Christ Jesus. He always prays fervently for you, asking God to make you stand firm, as mature and fully convinced Christians, in complete obedience to God's will.

You are my God; teach me to do your will. Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path.

Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority.

Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

Try to learn what pleases the Lord.

Don't be fools, then, but try to find out what the Lord wants you to do.

Do this not only when they are watching you, because you want to gain their approval; but with all your heart do what God wants, as slaves of Christ.

You need to be patient, in order to do the will of God and receive what he promises.

(SEE 13:20)

For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do.

From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires.

The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever.

Christ's message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one another with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts.

Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have.

I understand more than all my teachers, because I meditate on your instructions.

which he gave to us in such large measure! In all his wisdom and insight

But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all.

But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy.

We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we know the true God. We live in union with the true God---in union with his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this is eternal life.