Colossians 1:9-12 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask 1. that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that a. you may walk worthy of the Lord, to b. please Him in all respects, c. bearing fruit in every good work and d. increasing in the knowledge of God; (so we would be) e. strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, for the f. attaining of all steadfastness and patience; g. joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to h. share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
How many times have you prayed that God would heal someone, guide someone in decision making, bless someone, maybe even keep someone from sin, or even be with someone?
OK, the last one is a pet peeve of mine - because if the person is a believer God is there. According to Colossians 2:9-10," In Christ the fullness of God lies in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ." I don't know how much closer God can be than that - in union with the believer. But that is not the point of this discussion.
The point is that I, and I mean me, pray too often almost in cliches, saying or asking God to do that which He does by His nature - He is good and He does all things well, and for the good of those who love God and are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Still, we are constrained to pray - to give thanks, to bring our requests and petitions to God, and here Paul gives us a way to pray very specifically. As I rehearse this prayer, I also get an idea of what God wants for me.
He wants me to walk in way that shows I am aware of the price Christ paid to redeem me from my sin - walking worthy of the Lord. He wants me to please Him in all respects - all the choices I make, from what I eat, how I dress, where I go, what I watch, and everything I say. It matters to Him; it affects how He feels. Pleasing implies the giving of pleasure and the failure to do so - which is to cause pain.
He wants me to bear fruit in every good work - do things that matter, spending my time and energy doing things that have good consequences. And since increasing in the knowledge of God faces the good work thing, I wonder if God and Paul consider what we do to increase in the knowledge of God "a good work."
The result of all the things Paul prayed for was for the Colossians and for us, that we should be strengthened by them, we should grown in patience and demonstration of inner joy and the future hope we share with other believers.
I cannot help but wonder what would happen if we would put that passage on paper, carry it around with us so that we would remember to pray in this way, not just for others but for ourselves as well.
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