Friday, May 3, 2024
Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom and Understanding – Colossians 1:9–12 Submitted by Kay Crumley
Have you ever had someone you’ve never met send a message that they’re praying for you? What would you think or feel if that happened. Especially if it was from someone who was a leader in our faith? Well, that’s exactly what this letter to the church in Colossae is.
Paul wrote this letter to Colossae while he was in prison in Rome. He had never been there but had heard good reports about them from his fellow servants of Christ. Paul cared about these believers not because he had a personal relationship with them but because they had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As believers we are to pray for the members of our Spiritual family even if we don’t know them but know of their service to the Kingdom of God.
Verses 3 and 4 tell us what Paul knows about the good reputation this body of believers had. Epaphras had served with Paul in Ephesus. Paul probably had discipled him in the gospel and encouraged him to take the good news to other communities. Epaphras was from Colossae so it is reasonable that he would have returned home to teach his friends and family. Then he told Paul about this church and how they were growing in their faith and service.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people.
Now in verses 9-12 he writes his prayer for them. ‘For this reason,’ because they have accepted the gospel, understood God’s grace, and truth. Paul is thankful for their response to the teaching and message they heard from Epaphras.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
We can pray for others just as Paul did. We find in these verses some of the things we all need. We gain knowledge by studying His Word and hearing the Word preached. We can develop wisdom by applying knowledge of God and His character to our lives. Only by knowing Him and what He expects can we live lives that bear fruit and be pleasing to Him. Understanding we are strengthened by Him we can joyfully give thanks to our Father.
Dr. David Garland commented on this passage in the NIV Zondervan Study Bible: “Paul describes four elements of a life that is worthy of and fully pleasing to the Lord: bearing fruit, growing in knowledge of God, being strengthened for endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks. These fundamentals will fend off the harmful pressures from false teachers.” Pray these petitions to ground yourself in Christ and root yourself in sound doctrine.
We can make these requests for ourselves and for our friends and family. We can model Paul’s example and pray for believers we have heard about who are bearing fruit by sharing the gospel thus expanding the Kingdom of God to the world. Send a note, a text, or email to those you pray for to encourage them. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. NLT
