PRAYER – Colossians
This week we are moving into our study of the 3rd “I,” prayer. As we continue to learn how to know and follow Jesus, it is important for us to constantly examine ourselves in all areas of our walk, especially our prayer lives.
We are going to take a look at Paul’s prayer for the Colossians found in Col. 1:9-12. Our goal is to take this prayer apart so to speak, phrase by phrase and see what God has in store for us and what we can learn to improve our own prayer lives.
Below, I have provided the entire section that is relevant to the prayer so that we can examine and inspect it this weekend. Also, I have provided some questions for us to answer together as we work through this over the next 2-weeks at M3.
Colossians 1:1-12
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.
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit,[b] as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9 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;
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;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
- For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you
- Who is this prayer for?
- What are the circumstances or context of the prayer?
- What is the reason?
- What does Paul mean when he says we 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;
- Who is Paul “asking?”
- How do we obtain the knowledge of His will?
- What is the significance of the word “filled” in this verse?
- How does wisdom and spiritual understanding correlate with the knowledge of His will?
- How, if at all, does this relate to Dr. Bennett’s recent request for us to pray for each other regarding the Internalization of the Word?
Next week we will continue to examine the remainder of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.