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!
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