³ We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴ having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints, ⁵ because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News ⁶ which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth, ⁷ even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your^[a] behalf, ⁸ who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.