Wouldn’t it be encouraging if someone came to you today and said, “I just wanted to tell you that I haven’t stopped praying for you”? We could all use this type of support. This is exactly what Paul did when he told the church at Colossae, “And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you” (Col. 1:9).
There are a few insights we can glean from this short verse. First is the priority to pray for one another. Second, he sets the example to keep on praying. Don’t stop praying for others. This requires us to be intentional in ongoing prayers. Paul was committed to make the church at Colossae a part of his prayers each time he prayed. Finally, Paul reminds us that it’s not only important to pray for someone but to let them know you are doing it. He wanted them to know that he would be faithful to keep it up, so he communicated to them his practice of continual prayer.
When it comes to prayer, a winning combination is not only praying but using specific Scriptures. Sometimes we may not know how to specifically pray or feel inadequate to know what words to use. Praying Scripture allows us to know what to pray in the power of God’s living and active Word. It is a guaranteed way to ensure we are praying the will of God.
I have challenged my church this year to make praying Scripture over our church a priority. There are many Scriptures we can pray for our churches, but here are the verses we are praying:
- Revelation 2:4–5 — Pray that the church does not lose its first love.
- Colossians 4:2 — Pray that the church would devote itself to prayer.
- Matthew 9:37–38 — Pray that more workers would step up to faithfully serve.
- Acts 4:12 — Pray that the church will boldly share Jesus as the only hope for salvation.
- 2 Timothy 4:2 — Pray that pastors will preach the Word of God without apology.
- John 4:24 — Pray that the church will worship God in spirit and in truth.
- 1 Peter 5:2–3 — Pray that our leaders will serve humbly as godly examples to all.
- Colossians 1:28–29 — Pray that the church will strive to present everyone mature in Christ.
- Ephesians 4:11–12 — Pray that our leaders equip the saints for the work of ministry.
- John 17:20–23 — Pray that believers will be unified as one so others will see Jesus.
Additionally, I wanted to expand the vision of praying Scripture beyond just praying for Riverland Hills to include praying for our entire SCBaptist family. Our church has divided up the 2,000-plus SCBaptist churches into lists of seven. Our members have these lists and are committed to pray for our SCBaptist family throughout 2026. I desire for my church to see the importance of our connection with our greater SCBaptist family. We are intentionally praying for a move of God in all the churches across our state.
We need each other, and we need to be praying for one another. It is my hope that you will be encouraged knowing that the Riverland Hills family is praying for your church family. Would you consider praying over a neighboring church? You can take a step by getting a list of the churches in your association and start praying for them. By the way, when you pray, be sure to let them know. This would be a great source of encouragement for them.
We need each other to saturate the great state of South Carolina with the gospel. This is why our theme for the 2026 SCBC Annual Meeting in November is ONE: One Gospel. One Family. One More. We are unified by One Gospel, and since we are united in our Savior Jesus Christ, we function as One Family. Each church does their part to reach One More, send one more and give more for the advance of the gospel. We are stronger together, and part of our strength is our unity in prayer!
— Ryan Pack, senior pastor of Riverland Hills Baptist Church in Irmo, is 2026 president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.