Prayer

Prayer is vertical and not horizontal. We don’t pray to give out information to other believers.

Prayer is speaking directly to the Father through the Son, and we ought to always be conscious that we are speaking to God.

It may help to have a prayer list which is kept up to date.

It is essential to pray with faith so that God will answer our requests.

It is necessary to seek the will of God in our prayers and not ask for selfish desires and pursuits to be satisfied.

Prayer should always be with thanksgiving.

Colossians chapter 1, 9-14

Intercession:

Out of his thanksgiving flows earnest prayer for the Colossians. It is a good thing to examine our prayer life to determine whether it is healthy and regular. Paul speaks of the cause of his prayers, the continuity of his prayers, and the content of his prayers. It was what he heard about them, no doubt from Epaphras, that caused him to pray for them. Does what we hear about other believers give us a cause to pray for their further spiritual development? Unceasing continuous prayer is difficult to practise and demands discipline in practical living, but Paul was attentive to this. Praying was not just on a whim. For Paul it came from strong desires, and was time spent asking God for an increase in the lives of others. Notice what Paul prayed for the Colossians:

Enlightenment in relation to God’s will (verse 9)

Enlargement in their practical walk (verse 10)

Empowerment in their witness (verse 11).

The knowledge of His will is meant to be experiential and not just theoretical. How do we get to know God’s will for us? Well, through prayer, by His word, through circumstances, by the Spirit’s leading and by submission and obedience to His hand upon me. Two qualities accompany this knowledge of His will:

Wisdom – the application of knowledge. Note, it is not enough then to know God’s will, we must apply it and work it out in our lives.
Spiritual understanding – comprehension Divinely given about the spiritual import of matters.

So then, knowing God’s will undoubtedly affects my walk, according to verse 10. Consequently we must walk worthily, pleasingly and fruitfully. To be worthy means to behave in a becoming fashion and in an appropriate manner for someone who acknowledges Christ as Lord! Notice the pleasure is superlative (all pleasing), which involves giving complete satisfaction to the Lord Jesus. Then am I a fruitbearing Christian? The context here shows that good works are an opportunity to bear fruit for Him. The consequence of living in such a manner is that growth and development will spontaneously take place and my knowledge of God will correspondingly increase as well. We will be enlarged as believers. Observe, the knowledge of His grace in verse 6, the knowledge of His will in verse 9, and the knowledge of Himself in verse 10.

Next there is empowerment in verse 11 as we are strengthened with all might. J.N. Darby says “made powerful with all power.” There is nothing meagre with God, and He energises His people in accordance with His unlimited glory. What does God supply this power for? It is with a view to patience – the ability to bear up under pressure and the ill will of persons opposed to us, and not to give in easily. Secondly, longsuffering, which is the quality that shows self-restraint and does not retaliate. Thirdly, it enables an inner joyfulness to be expressed in all circumstances.

In verse 12 there is thanksgiving again to the Father, who equips us even in adversity to be competent to participate in the inheritance given to the saints and enjoyed by those who have been brought into the light. This is true spiritual enrichment as a result of our deliverance from the authority of the powers that dominate the darkness and our translation into the kingdom of the Son of His love. This happened once for all at the moment of our conversion.

Whenever He mentions the Son of God, Paul cannot refrain from expanding on the greatness of His work and the glories of His person. That is why he speaks of our redemption and forgiveness in verse 14. The ransom price has been paid in precious blood and we have now become His possession. How blessed to be forgiven and to know that our sins can never be recalled against us because of the work of Christ at Calvary.

Next time: The majesty of Christ revealed