Thoughts from Colossians 1:9-14 (Part II)

Colossians 1:9-14

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

In last week’s blog, I examined the first portion of this set of Scriptures.  My intent had been to work my way through the latter verses as well, but I found that there was simply too much in the early portion to move ahead too quickly.  It therefore seemed fitting that I would write a part I and part II and use this week’s blog to finish my look at this passage.  Having spent the last little while working through it, though, I can clearly see that a part III will be necessary!  :)

May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

This is an incredible prayer.  As with the verses we examined last week, Paul continues to use complete adjectives to indicate that this is in no way a half-hearted prayer.  Instead, he forges fully ahead, going for the proverbial gusto and praying that the Colossians will be strengthened with all power, for all endurance and patience with joy.  Paul is not praying for them to be filled with all the power they can muster.  Oh no!  He is praying for something much greater than that –to be filled with all power according to His glorious might.  WHOA!  Think about that for just a moment – to be filled with all power according to His glorious might.  That’s power beyond compare.  It’s even beyond comprehension.  Even a cursory look at a handful of the many Scriptures related to God’s power makes this immediately clear:

 Isaiah 40:12 – “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?”

Psalm 24:8 – “Who is this King of glory?  The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!”

Psalm 50:1-6 – “The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.  Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.  Our God comes; He does not keep silence; before Him is a devouring fire, around Him a mighty tempest.  He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that He may judge His people: ‘Gather to Me My faithful ones, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice!’  The heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge!”

Psalm 93: “The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt.  Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.  Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.  The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.  Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!  Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits Your house, O Lord, forevermore.”

Paul is praying that the Colossians would be filled with all power according to God’s glorious might – might that measures the waters in the palm of His hand, and marks off the heavens with a span.  Might that is strong and mighty in battle.  Might that has a devouring fire before it and a mighty tempest around it.  Might that wears strength as a belt.  Might that is established from everlasting.  This is the might with which Paul is praying for the Colossians to be filled.  And yet, to be perfectly honest, I find myself (and others) so often praying prayers that are by comparison weak and wimpy.  When we reach out to God, we’re reaching out to the King of Glory – the Lord strong and mighty!  Why don’t we stand up and claim the access that we have to His might?  Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”  As I heard called during today’s message at church – “Stand up, Christians!”  Say “goodbye” to complacency.  Get off your seats and approach the throne of grace – not with wishful thoughts, but with confidence that you will receive mercy and find grace from the God of all might and power.  He holds everything in the palm of His hands.  He knows what you’re going through.  He’s even allowed it to happen.  Come before Him and be blessed.  Matthew 7:11 - If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

When I first committed this passage to memory, I found myself praying this very prayer for people.  I’m ashamed to admit, though, that I’ve gotten away from this powerful prayer and exchanged it for less.  I want to recommit myself to praying this very prayer for those in need around me.  I don’t want to pray anything less for people than for them to be filled with all power according to His glorious might and to have all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father.  This, my friends, is how Christians are going to have abundant life and what’s more, change the world – by enduring all things with patience and with joy, giving thanks.  The unfortunate reality is that Christians more often than not exhibit the same responses to difficult situations as those who are not (yet) in relationship with the Lord.  As Steven Curtis Chapman indicates in one of his songs, we may say it’s “only natural,” but we as believers are NOT called to be “only natural.”  Instead, we’re called to live supernatural lives, strengthened by the glorious might that comes from our Father, the King of glory!  Christians living lives that are only natural is exactly what leads the nonbeliever to view the church as a gathering of hypocrites who are no different than anyone else.  Stand up, church!  Live the lives to which you have been called – walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  Accept the abundant life He has for you today and be the light on the hill to those living in darkness.  To this you have been called.  And for this reason, God gave His Son.  Stand up and accept the might, endurance, patience and joy available to you through the love of our steadfast God!      

Thoughts from Colossians 1:9-14 (Part I)

Colossians 1:9-14

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Application of verses 9-10

At the start of this passage, Paul lets the Colossians know that he and Timothy have not ceased to pray for them.  This must have been quite an encouragement to that body of believers.  What an incredible gift to know that we are brought before the throne of God as part of the prayers of others.  James 5:16b tells us, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power in working.”  We’ve all heard it said before – “there is power in prayer.”  The question I have to ask myself is, “does my life show that there’s power in prayer?”  On the one hand, I know that it does, because I can easily look back and see some of the many times in which God has answered not only my prayers, but also, the prayers of others on my behalf.  On the other hand, am I following the words of the old hymn to “take it to the Lord in prayer”?  Am I bringing my hopes and hurts, my worries and fears before Him?  And just as importantly, if not more importantly, am I bringing the hopes and hurts, worries and fears of others before His throne?  I must confess that it’s easy for me to indicate, with the best of intentions, that I will keep someone in my prayers. It’s just as easy, however, for me to get distracted and neglect to do so.  I know the same is often true for others.  That’s why I’m so humbled when people follow the example Paul is showing here of telling me that they have been praying for me after the fact.  It’s no longer about good intentions.  Instead, it’s about a love and concern for me that penetrates to the heart of the person who has been praying.  That person is using at least a portion of their valuable time before the throne of God to bring me there as well.  That’s a real encouragement!  During difficult times, people may often wonder what they can do for the one going through the difficult times.  We may even wonder what more can we do than pray as it may seem as though that’s not quite enough.  The truth is, though, that while it’s wonderful to be able to help in other specific ways, it’s a privilege to be able to take our requests, petitions and praises to our Father.  And, as James tells us, there’s great power in it as well!  So, don’t be discouraged when “all you can do is pray.”  Be encouraged to know that doing so is an incredible gift for the one in need. 

Next, it’s important to notice the content of Paul’s prayer.  He’s asking that the Colossians would be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  I’ve been struck in recent years about the ways in which I interact with God during prayer.  I’ve recognized that much of my prayer journey has been about me coming to God, thanking Him for the good things I see at work in my life, and asking Him for more of the good things to come for me and for others.  The problem is that what I see as good is not always good.  What I hope to have happen is not always what’s best.  It’s like that delicious looking dessert that tempts me.  It looks really good, but is actually not at all good for me.  On a broader level, we all know that God sometimes uses the storms in our lives to bring about His best for us.  His best is what’s really good for us!  And so, I’ve been learning that I need to change my prayer focus.  In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your kingdom come, You will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  He’s not encouraging us to bring our laundry list of desires to God in the hopes that He will grant us our wishes.  Instead, He’s modeling for us that we ought to come before God with a submissive heart that wants more to see His will done than to see our will done.  I John 5:14-15 tells us, “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”  When we pray according to God’s will, we can know that He will hear us and that His will will be done.  (I must confess that even as I type this, I find myself thinking about situations where I felt I was praying for God’s will to be done, and yet what I considered to be God’s will didn’t materialize.  Scripture, though, is truth.  Therefore, if I’m understanding this passage correctly, I need to trust that when I truly pray according to God’s will, it will be done, even when things may appear to the contrary.  Colossians 13:12 – “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  We only see a small portion of the bigger picture that God sees in full!)  So, Paul is not praying for the Colossians to see all their wishes come true.  Instead, he’s praying that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  He wants them to truly, deep down, know God’s will.  Notice the adjectives that he uses: “filled”, “all”, “fully” and “every”.  Paul’s not praying for a half-hearted, shallow understanding.  He’s praying for complete depth of understanding and wisdom, and the ultimate in our walk and the fruit that’s produced.  This is not wimpy stuff.  Paul is praying for a materialization of the full extent of each of these things.  One of the most wonderful parts about all of this is that the more we are filled with the knowledge of His will, the less room we will have in our minds to be concerned about our own wills.  Filling our heads with the knowledge of His will will in fact squeeze everything else out.  And the result is that we may “walk in a manner fully pleasing to Him.”  How awesome is that?  To be able to walk in a manner fully pleasing to our Lord and Savior, God and King!  That’s what I want.  I can easily get distracted by the things of this world, but when I take the time to truly stop to reflect on it, I want nothing more than to walk in a manner fully pleasing to our steadfast God!