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Colossians 1:3
3 We give thanks [eucharisteo] to God [theos] and [kai] the Father [pater] of our [hemon] Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos], praying [proseuchomai] always [pantote] for [peri] you [humon], KJV-Interlinear
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, NASB
No matter who we are. No matter what our circumstances are. No matter what others think of us, or how others treat us. Our lives depend on God, and on God alone, not anyone, nor anything else, in this world.
You will have your hopes and dreams shattered. You will have your expectations demolished. People will disappoint you. Many of the things you want in life, simply will not come to pass.
For some, life will come relatively easy, or it will seem to be that way. For most people, life will be one long stream of endless days and years of difficulty.
But remember one important thing, unreasonable expectations, from this world, never come true. God is the only truth, and the only reliable hope in all the universe.
All prayer is directed to God the Father, and to nothing and to no one else. Prayers are never directed to Jesus, to Mary, to any saint, to ancestors, to rocks, to animals or birds or fish, to angels, to moons or planets, to the natural elements of nature, to the wind or fire or anything else you can think of.
All prayer is submitted to the Father, in the name of Christ. Jesus Christ is the only person who has executed life in perfection. Jesus Christs’ work is the only work of any value.
Mans work is valueless. Mans efforts in attempting to bypass Christ, is an arrogant attempt to insert mans plan into Gods plan. Man tries to approach God based on his (mans) own effort and design, and that is rejected by God.
Man is imperfect and therefore anything man does, is imperfect, and of the sin nature.
Man has ulterior motives, driven by his sin nature. Man will make rules that favor his convenience and selfish desires. Man will compromise standards, and invent rules as he goes along. God has truth and God is immutable.
Because God is stable and perfect, then His plan will work to our benefit and success, despite mans or evils interference or attempts to steal Gods plan away from Him. Prayer keeps God and Gods plan, in the forefront of your mind always.
Even if you are cheated, lied to, betrayed, taken advantage of, maligned, beaten and so forth, your life does not depend on this world, but on God. This world will go away one day, and your life will continue on in heaven, one day. And when that time comes, then if you have been faithful to your spiritual advance, despite your hardships and disappointments, then your life will be phenomenally blessed, beyond your wildest dreams, forever.
For that, you need to be thankful every moment of every day of your life, which is often extremely difficult to do, but necessary so that the world and evil cannot defeat you, by wearing you down.
