The Apostle Paul, and those with him, prayed the following prayer for the Colossians. Colossians 1:9-12 “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” If the Apostle Paul were alive today, he could pray this same prayer for you. In fact, I pray this prayer for you. It is a wonderful prayer and one you might want to pray for yourself or even someone you love.
“That you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” In the middle of the first century, when the Apostle Paul sent the letter to the Colossians, what we call the New Testament was being written; all the books had not been collected into a Bible. But you and I have the Bible and we can read it to obtain the knowledge of His will. Don’t just depend upon someone else to read the Bible for you and then tell you what they know; they may misunderstand the will of God or give you only part of His will. Read the Bible for yourself to obtain the knowledge of His will. Wisdom is the ability to apply relevant knowledge in an insightful way. Pray for wisdom in applying your knowledge of God’s will. Many spiritual truths are only fully understood by those who have the Holy Spirit and are spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Most people in the world do not read the Bible; others who read it don’t understand His will nor how to apply it. As a Christian, you should desire to know and understand the will of God and how to wisely apply it in your life. Pray that God will bless you with knowledge and wisdom and spiritual understanding of His will as you read and study the Bible.
“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” As you gain the knowledge of God’s will, you must apply it in your life. James 1:22-24 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” You do not want to be just a hearer of the word; you must be a doer of the word. From the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, there are three areas to pray for you being a doer of the word. First, your walk in life should be worthy of the Lord. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, and left you an example of how you should live. 1 Peter 2:21-22 “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.’” To walk worthy of the Lord is to follow his example as best you can in your life; keeping sin in your life is not walking worthy of the Lord. Pray that He will guide you to walk worthy of the Lord. Second, your walk in life should be fully pleasing to Him. Ephesians 5:10 “Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” Would He be pleased with your life? Are you conscientiously trying to please Him? Pray that He will help you be pleasing to Him. Third, your walk in life should be fruitful in every good work. While you are not saved by works, God created you for good works. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Pray that your life will be fruitful in good works.
“Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.” If you depend upon your own strength in your Christian life, you will surely fall short. The Apostle Paul learned that lesson. Instead, he depended upon the strength from Christ. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Pray for His power and strength in your life. One of the main areas that you need strength is in patience and longsuffering with joy. It is easy to walk a good walk for a short period of time. What is difficult is to keep up the good walk through trials and temptations and disappointments and discouragements for the remainder of your life. That requires patience and longsuffering. Also, to walk the walk with joy, not bitterness or complaining or acting like a martyr. Pray that God will strengthen you for all patience and longsuffering with joy.
“Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” The final part of the Colossian prayer is thankfulness to God. It is through His grace that you will receive your inheritance of eternal life. When you pray, be truly thankful for all that He has done for you.
Review the prayer the Apostle Paul had for the Colossians. I encourage you to make his prayer your prayer.