Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (A)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of ^(B)your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(C)the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of ^(D)the hope ^(E)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^(F)the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed ^(G)in the whole world it is ^(H)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^(I)heard it and understood ^(J)the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(K)Epaphras our beloved ^(L)fellow servant.^[a] He is ^(M)a faithful minister of Christ on your^[b] behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your ^(N)love in the Spirit.

⁹ And so, ^(O)from the day we heard, ^(P)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^(Q)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^(R)spiritual wisdom and understanding,

¹⁵ but ^(A)in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, ^(B)always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and ^(C)respect,

Thanksgiving

^3 (A)We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,^[a] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.