9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
I love Paul’s prayers. He doesn’t pray the typical generic “bless them, be with them, give them good health” kind of prayers. His prayers touch on the weightier matters of faith…and teach us a lot about what matters.
His first prayer request for the Colossians…Lord, fill them with the knowledge of Your will so that they will have wisdom and understanding in knowing how to live. Quite a request. Something I long for myself. I need a sense of God’s will. I want to be in step with His plan. I want to know how to use my gifts for His glory, how to navigate the tricky waters between mercy and enabling someone’s sin, generosity and wise stewardship, serving and stretching myself thin, being a citizen of heaven and a politically aware and active American on earth. Lord, fill me with Your wisdom!
Paul prays for this filling of wisdom and understanding so that the Colossians will live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way. The goal is to bring pleasure to God, to make my life an offering to Him. It is interesting to look at the elements of my life that please the Lord. Check out this list…
1. Bearing fruit in every good work. Doing good to others. Shining the light of Jesus Christ so that others will have reason to glorify God (Matthew 5:16).
2. Growing in the knowledge of God. Not just cognitive, facts-based head knowledge…though we do have to know about God in order to know Him…but an experiential, intimate, increasing love of God.
3. Being strengthened with all power so that we can endure and persevere through life’s struggles. Life is a marathon and God wants us to keep running the race faithfully even through the bumps and potholes of life. That is why we need a fresh infusion of His strength each day.
4. Giving thanks to God for His salvation and blessings. Gratitude. Joy. Praise. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). In Christ, I always have a reason to give thanks…if I choose to focus on Him. A grumbling, complaining Christian is simply out of God’s will and looking at the wrong things.
Lord, may my life please You and bear fruit for Your kingdom.
