What picture comes into your mind when you think of a saint? Is it a portrait of a medieval saint with a golden halo? Or a cartoon character wearing a white robe and carrying a harp standing on a cloud? Is it a solemn picture of someone dressed all in black with a pinched look of long-suffering on his or her face? Do you automatically think to yourself, "It's hard to be a saint — but it's even harder to live with one"?

In the New Testament, the word "saint" is used to describe the early Christians. It actually doesn't have anything to do with white robes or shiny halos or acting holier than thou. In fact, when we read the stories of the early church, we discover that these "saints" had all the same stresses, all the same warts that we do — and maybe even more! They also struggled with questions about how to relate to the world around them; they experienced their own fair share of doubts on matters of faith; they had to work through their own personal disagreements, family problems, and church issues. These saints were real Christians with all of the struggles of real life.

The word "saints" appears three times in Colossians 1:1-14: as part of the opening address (v. 2); with reference to love for all the saints (v. 4); and with thanks to God for the inheritance of the saints (v. 12). The same word appears also in the book of Acts, in Romans, in 1 and 2 Corinthians, and in Hebrews. Throughout the New Testament, the believers are referred to as "saints," which means "holy ones." Just as God is called the "holy one" in the scriptures, those who live as God's people through faith in Jesus are called the "holy ones." It's very similar to the way the early believers acquired the name Christian — not because they were perfectly Christlike, but because they followed Christ. In the same way, the believers were called the saints, the "holy ones" — not because they were perfectly holy, but because they were the people of God, set apart to worship and serve the "holy one" revealed in Jesus Christ.

In the language of the Bible, if we have faith and follow Jesus, we might also think of ourselves as saints today — not as still-life portraits or cartoon characters, but as people set apart for God. If it were up to our own individual effort, none of us would qualify for sainthood. Not you, not me, not Mother Teresa, not Billy Graham. But through faith in Jesus, by the power of his life, death, and resurrection, we can qualify together with the saints past and present and around the world. All those who have faith and follow Jesus are saints in the New Testament understanding of the word.

Now you may or may not know all of the saints in this congregation, let alone all of the saints in a neighboring church, and certainly it's not possible for us to know all of the saints around the world. In the same way, it's quite likely that the writer of Colossians did not know all of the saints he wrote to in the city of Colossae. The first line of the letter identifies the primary letter writer as the apostle Paul. He was well travelled for his day and age and knew many people in many churches. Yet he writes to the Colossians in verse 4: "we have heard of your faith." Theirs was a long-distance relationship. He hadn't seen or experienced their faith because he wasn't there — but he had heard about it. Then later in Colossians 2:1, Paul addresses "all who have not seen me face-to-face" — in other words, those who had not met him personally. He and many of his first readers had never met face-to-face. They knew one another only by word of mouth, only on paper.

Yet in spite of this, Paul writes this letter and offers a prayer for the saints at Colossae. His example is an encouragement to us today — we may not know all of the saints in our own congregation, or in the next church, and we do not know all of the saints around the world, yet we also may be encouraged to pray on their behalf. This is Paul's example in our text from Colossians. It is echoed also in Ephesians 6:18, which instructs us to "persevere in supplication for all the saints."

How can we pray meaningfully for people that we do not know and may have never even met? What can we pray on their behalf? Can we read our text from Colossians as a model for our prayers today? There is much more in this portion of scripture, of course. It has much to say about the grace of God and our hope in Christ. But it also has much to teach us about praying for others — in fact, in these verses prayer is really the main point. Before Paul, the theologian, turns to the big theological ideas in this letter, he is first off Paul, the apostle, praying for the saints, and we would do well first off to be grounded in the kind of prayer that Paul demonstrates.

The apostle focuses on four specific items of prayer: giving thanks for the Colossians' faith and love (vv. 3-4); asking that they might be filled with the knowledge of God's will (v. 9); that they might lead lives worthy of the Lord (v. 10); and that they might be strong and endure and also give thanks (vv. 11-12).

It's interesting to note what Paul does not pray for. He does not give thanks for food or shelter, for families or jobs, or for anything that we might think of as more material or more physical. He doesn't pray for numerical growth in the church or for the success of a particular ministry. Instead, he gives thanks for the evidence of faith and love that he has heard. He prays for growth in knowledge and good works, for perseverance.

It's not wrong to pray more specifically about material and physical needs. Jesus himself taught his disciples to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Jesus himself gave thanks for bread and fish before he fed the crowds (John 6:11). He prayed over those who were crippled and blind so they would be healed. But Jesus' concern was also for those who were spiritually blind and spiritually hungry. When the Samaritan woman came to the well for a bucket of water, he offered her living water for her spiritual thirst (John 4). When he opened the eyes of a man born blind, the man received both physical and spiritual sight (John 9).

So, too, we are challenged in our prayers for the saints to enlarge our prayers even beyond the more physical concerns to pray also for spiritual matters. Yes, we pray for the brother in the church who has just been diagnosed with cancer. Yes, we pray for the sister in the church who is struggling with chronic pain. Yes, we pray for those who are dealing with disaster around the world. Yes, we pray for those who suffer under grinding poverty, oppression, and war. We pray that those who are hungry would receive food. We pray that those who need clean water would gain access to clean water. We pray for relief efforts that provide shelter and clothing and medical care and other forms of practical assistance. These are urgent prayers for urgent physical needs.

Yet, as human beings, we are more than our physical bodies, and Paul's prayer here in Colossians challenges us to pray even beyond the physical. Even as we pray for the physical needs of our world, let us also pray for spiritual concerns. Just as Paul gave thanks for the saints in Colossae, we also may give thanks for the saints in our own church and around the world. We also may pray that they might know God better, that their lives would be pleasing to God, and that they would endure whatever challenges they face.

At the time Colossians was written, the saints did not face the kind of physical suffering that Christians would face some years later under Nero. At this point, their need for endurance was related more to overcoming false teaching. In Colossians 2:4-19, the apostle instructs his readers not to be deceived but to remain firm in their faith. That's the kind of endurance and patience he prayed for them. Yet in the book of Revelation, endurance and patience are applied also to situations of intense persecution (1:9; 3:10; 13:10).

Today, saints around the world and here at home also face the challenges of false teaching, of violence and persecution, and other forms of suffering. So like the apostle Paul, we also may pray for the perseverance of the saints, that they might continue to be faithful. We also may pray for their encouragement and spiritual growth and strength to carry them through the challenges they face. These are urgent prayers for urgent spiritual needs.

For the apostle Paul, praying for the saints in this way was not a one-time exercise. In verse 3, his prayers are plural. In verse 9, they are unceasing. In the same way, we also may continue to pray for those saints we may not know personally — not just one prayer on one Sunday morning, but over and over again, and during the week. Our prayers may also be plural and unceasing.

As we pray beyond ourselves, we are also challenged and changed. We look beyond our own narrow world and our own personal concerns to the concerns of others. We pray for physical needs and also more broadly for spiritual needs. As we pray for others to grow in the knowledge of God, to live in ways that please God, to persevere, we are challenged also to live and grow in the same way. Like the apostle Paul and the Colossian church, may we also demonstrate our love for all the saints and share in our mutual inheritance, by giving thanks and offering our prayers to the one who has redeemed us and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

Let us pray: O God, we give you thanks for your people, for saints sitting next to us and saints around the world. May they be encouraged in leading lives that please you — in doing good works, in growing in your knowledge, in being strengthened by your power, and giving thanks. For those living in dire physical circumstances, we ask for your special care. By your mercy, grant food to those who are hungry, clean water to those who are thirsty, relief to those who are oppressed or suffering in any way. Even as we pray for others this morning, we know that our prayers also challenge us. So we ask that you would also lead us in good works, in a deeper knowledge of you, in drawing on your strength to endure the challenges that face us, and in giving thanks for all the saints. Amen.