Do Not Cease to Pray

 

 

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:1-2)

So begins Paul’s letter to the church at Colosse. Today’s focus will be verses 9 and 10, wherein the apostle describes the many things he, and all Christians, should keep in their prayers.

⁹For 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; ¹⁰ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:9-10)

The Need to Pray for Others

·  “For this reason”—the good report by Epaphras about their faith in Christ and love in the spirit.

·  Paul and others regularly and consistently prayed for the Christians in Colosse.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, (1 Timothy 2:1)

·  Even though Paul was suffering in prison and had his own problems, he remembers to pray for these Christians. He serves as a great example for us.

Pray for Knowledge

·  “Filled”—a sense of righteousness. “Knowledge of His will”—we should ask God to help us in our study of His word to come to know His will, what He wants us to know and do.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)

·  “Wisdom”—the right application of knowledge. The knowledge we gain from Bible study must be practiced in our lives, or it will not do us any good. I am sure all of us know people who know a lot of the Bible but hardly ever assemble with the saints. They do not exhibit wisdom.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

·  Knowing without doing is sin.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

  Wisdom is seen in our good works.

·  “Spiritual understanding”—this is seen when one gains the knowledge of God’s will and uses it properly by employing spiritual insight.

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (Ephesians 1:17-19)

This insight will cause us to choose the proper treasures.

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²² “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.

We need to be able to teach God’s word accurately to others.

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³ For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

This understanding means putting things together, discerning the relations of different truths and the logical consequences of one’s principles. It gives one the ability to discern good from evil, true from false.

Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. (Colossians 2:4)

Pray That You Walk Worthy

·  Walk in a manner suitable to God’s nature and attributes. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so we walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6). This means to have Christ’s life reproduced in you. As Christians, we are called “to walk worthy” in Ephesians 4:1 and Philippians 1:27.

·  We should also pray that our lives bring honor and praise to the Lord.

Pray That You Will Please The Lord

·  As Christians, we should endeavor to please God in “all” things.

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

We should strive to please God in every area of our lives. Pleasing men should never take priority over pleasing God.

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

This includes ourselves! We should always prefer God’s will over our own.

Pray That You Will Be Faithful

·  Embrace all opportunities to do good according to your abilities.”Be ready for every good work.” Titus 3:1

“Fruitful”

⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. (John 15:5,8,16)

An important fruit is another Christian. Fruits of righteousness would be another.

being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:11)

These fruits should include the ones mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Good works also bearing fruit are deeds beneficial in a practical sense. It has been said that “saints are trees of righteousness” planted by the Lord.

⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

In Conclusion

As we have seen, Christians have much to pray about. Let us pray for both ourselves and others, for knowledge of God’s will, that we are to walk worthy of the Lord, in that all we do we please the Lord, and that we will be fruitful in our lives.

 

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