Grace Fellowship    02/15/09    How to Pray for Christians        Colossians 1:9-14

CLICK HERE to listen to this sermon in MP3 audio.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day which for some people, may be as traumatic as Christmas is for others.  I don’t know what your celebration consisted of, if anything, but Valentine’s Day seems to have evolved into little more than an excuse to stimulate someone else’s economy.  Much like Christmas.  With divorce rates as high as they are, Valentine’s Day certainly isn’t having much of an impact on preserving long-term marital relationships.  In fact, it probably provokes divorce in some cases.

In the spiritual realm, there is no such thing as divorce.  While fallen human beings are capable of finding reasons, even on Valentine’s Day, to dissolve what is designed by God to be a permanent relationship, God on the other hand, having many reasons to distance Himself from us, has committed Himself to this relationship we have with Him.  Christ will never divorce His bride.  Rather, He has loved her, made her spotless, and clothed her in His own righteousness.

The Lord Jesus is everything the Church needs.  The Church however, is perpetually less than what Jesus deserves.  At least, that is the case for now.  One day we will actually experience what we are in theory now.  In Christ, we are righteous.  In reality, we still sin.  In Christ, we are perfect.  In reality, well, nobody is perfect.  In Christ, it is as though we have already been glorified.  In reality, we are obviously less than glorious.

But even though our present life is much less than what it one day will be, we still need to work at this business of living well for the Lord now.  We want to be pleasing to Him, even if we are not perfect.  We desire to live holy lives, even if we aren’t sinless.  And if that is the case, then we should take advantage of every source of strength and encouragement available to us.  One of those things, which we sometimes refer to as a means of grace, is prayer.

Talking about prayer is not very encouraging to some of us.  I’ve never met a Christian that thought he prayed as much as he ought.  Does anyone really pray without ceasing?  But maybe how much we pray is not as important as what we pray.  When we do pray, what kinds of things do we pray about?  Or what kind of things SHOULD we pray about?  The apostle Paul gives us an example here in Colossians 1.  Here’s how he prayed for the new Christians at Colossae:   

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Generally speaking, do our prayers for one another sound like Paul’s prayers for his fellow believers?  Maybe we could say that he prayed that way because he was an apostle.  “But we live in the real world.  We don’t live in some high-brow, theological seventh heaven like Paul, off somewhere in some seminary using words like “propitiation” and “justification” and stuff.  We have real prayer requests for the real world.  Like prayer for healing and for guidance about what I should study in college, and who I should marry, and whether I should home school my kids, and for salvation for my family and church growth and stuff.  And for safety when we visit the relatives and stuff.  And that the car will stay together.  We don’t use words like “redemption” and stuff when we pray.  We use real words, mostly one-syllable words, and we talk about REAL stuff here in the real world!  We don’t get into all that deep stuff that Paul talked about.”

Why does Paul pray the way he does?  Was Paul’s prayer just a bunch of hard to understand theological “stuff”?  Or was it about the real world in which we live?  Is he just trying to show off his own deep spirituality?  Or did he pray as he did for fellow Christians out of necessity?  

We live as Christians in a very real world that is very much opposed to everything godly.  We’re told that if we live godly lives, we will suffer for it.  We even oppose ourselves.  We’re always torn between the lusts of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit.  That battle constantly rages.  Thus the need for prayer like the one we just read.  If, as James says, we have not because we ask not, then that explains why so many Christians are so weak in the faith: because they/we don’t pray for the stuff we need in order to live well for God in the real world.  How did Paul pray?

1.  He prayed for the Colossian believers unceasingly (v.9a).  
This does not mean that he stopped eating and stopped talking to people, sequestered himself in his prayer closet and prayed 24/7 for them.  He just means he has prayed for them regularly and often since day one.  When Epaphras reported to Paul of the Colossians' salvation, Paul and his co-workers began to pray for them and had continued to do so ever since.

Elsewhere, Paul commands the Thessalonian Christians to pray without ceasing.  Jesus assumed His disciples would pray.  He also assumed they would be discouraged.  So He told them a parable about prayer.  Look with me at Luke 18.

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God [a righteous Judge] give justice to his elect [not to everyone], who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” ¹  [i.e. Will God’s people pray?]

Notice the very first verse.  Jesus encouraged the disciples to pray always and not lose heart.  In this passage, He gives two parameters for answered prayer: First, they must be the prayers of the elect, those whom God has saved.  Secondly, the particular thing prayed for is justice.  Not only does a just God grant justice to His own people, but He will do so quickly, speedily.  The widow bothered and nagged the unjust judge until he gave her what she wanted, justice against her adversary, just so she would shut up and leave him alone.  Our Heavenly Father will gladly give His children justice when they pray.  But we must pray.  And if the answer does not come as quickly as we think it should, just keep praying.  We ought always to pray and not lose heart.  

2.  Specifically, Paul prayed for them to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will (v.9b)
Do you ever want to know what God’s will is for your life?  Are you ever concerned that you may spend your life doing something God never intended for you to do?  Suppose you decide to take a job at AccuWeather when God really wanted you to work at Penn State?  What if you married Susie when God really wanted you to marry Sally, but you weren’t really interested in Sally?  What if you moved to PA when God really wanted you in Montana?  What to do?

Paul says here in verse 9 that he prayed for the Colossians to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  Wow!  If I was filled with the knowledge of God’s will, then that means I’d never make another mistake!  I’d know which car to buy, which stocks to invest in, which school to attend, which grocery store to shop at, which candidate to vote for, which church to fellowship with, which route to take on vacation, which team to support, and on and on and on!  How great it would be to be filled to the brim with perfect knowledge of everything God wants me to do!  Please feel free to pray that for me!

But that’s not what that verse means.  Look at it again.

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to [i.e in order that you might] walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Specifically, he prays that they will have spiritual (rather than worldly) wisdom and understanding.  How hard is that?  How hard is it to be wise and have understanding from God’s perspective?  Well, when was the last time you studied Proverbs?  Godly wisdom is an elusive thing.  It does not come naturally.  If it did, we wouldn’t need to pray for it.  It is a gift from God which He grants to His people as they pray for it.  James had something to say about that:

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8)

Now, if you don’t lack wisdom, then you don’t need to bother asking God for it.  But if you do lack wisdom, God will not withhold it from you if you ask.  In fact, God is quite liberal in giving us wisdom.  Paul prayed for wisdom for other people!  And James tells us we should pray for it for ourselves.  Wisdom, spiritual knowledge, understanding, discernment are all immensely valuable.  If you don’t believe me, look at the lives of those who don’t have it.

3. In Paul’s prayer, he asked the Lord to grant the Colossians spiritual wisdom and understanding, why?  Verse 10 - “so as to” or “in order that you might” walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.  

Obviously, when Paul prays for wisdom for these new believers, he is not praying that they would become educated.  His concern is that they live lives worthy of the Lord, worthy of the name Christian.  His desire is that they glorify God.  That is the purpose, or the end for which we have been saved by God.  And God’s glory should be the goal of a grateful heart.  If you are truly grateful for the forgiveness which God has freely granted you, simply because HE wanted to, the proof of that gratitude is a holy life that brings glory to God.  Gratitude for salvation, and love for the Savior drive us to live holy lives for the sake of His name.  That is the life that honors God and is worthy of the Lord.  That is credible Christianity.  It takes wisdom from God to live well for Him.

4. Once again, look at verse 10.  Paul’s prayer reveals his concern that these new Christians be fully pleasing to [God], bearing fruit in every good work. Fully pleasing in every good work?  Is that even possible?  What does he mean by that?  Does he mean that the Colossians should be actively pursuing every possible good work and perform them all perfectly, without error?  Are they supposed to support widows and orphans, and send gifts to poor and suffering believers in Jerusalem, and be members of Habitat for Humanity, and all the professional men need to join the Gideons and distribute Bibles in Athens, and all the women join the Missionary Aid Society, and start 5-Day Clubs in everyone’s back yard, and volunteer at A Woman’s Concern for the girls with unwanted pregnancies, and hold fund raisers for the SPCA, and do the Meals on Wheels thing, and visit people in the hospital, and homeschool all their kids, and send a check to starving kids in the Sudan, and recycle all their plastic bottles, etc., etc., etc?  What does he mean, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work?  

I believe he means this: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.  John Gill says in regard to the phrase,  Or whatsoever ye do; in a natural, civil, or religious respect, in preaching, hearing, praying, fasting, giving of alms… whatever in the closet, in the family, in the church, or in the world, in private, or in public: do all to the glory of God.  Paul is obviously not praying that the Colossians would actually perform every possible good work.  But he is saying that whatever good work they do, it should be done in a manner that is pleasing and honoring to the Lord.

Do you desire to work at whatever you do for the glory of God?  If we can either bring God glory or bring shame upon Him simply by the way we eat and drink, then shouldn’t that be a continual concern for prayer?  Shouldn’t we pray for God’s help to enable us to live as we ought for His sake?  And do you think He would be interested in answering such a prayer?  When we pray for wisdom and knowledge to live well for Christ, God hears that prayer and answers it.  But the question is do we pray for it?  

5. Then, at the very end of verse 10, Paul tells the Colossians that he prays they would increase in the knowledge of God.  Not knowledge about God.  Knowledge OF God.  How important is it that God’s people grow in their knowledge of Him?  That may best be answered by Scripture itself.  I want you to turn back to the Old Testament prophet of Hosea as we look at this last item for today on Paul’s prayer list for the Colossians.  Hosea was the last prophet to speak to the Northern Kingdom of Israel before they were annihilated by the king of Assyria.  This is God’s final word to them because they rejected the knowledge of God:

1 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:1-6)

These were people who claimed to belong to Jehovah.  They had knowledge ABOUT God.  But they rejected any true knowledge OF Him. Even their priests and prophets did not instruct the people about God or lead them to really know Him.  Not just know about Him and be able to recite endless Bible verses.  They rejected knowledge OF God.  They rejected God Himself.  It is very similar to what Paul says in Romans 1.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:21-23).

Look at the back of your bulletin.  On Sunday morning, there is an opportunity for you to learn more about God and of God, beginning with the Sunday School hour.  The Bible is our text.  Then, at 11:30 we have another opportunity to learn to know God better through our worship service.  The Bible and the Hymnal are our texts.  At 6 PM on Sunday evenings, we have a study about how to study the Bible, our primary text.  On Wednesday nights, we have a Bible study in the Gospel of John, so we can know God better and more deeply.  On Thursday nights, we pray together over at our house, asking God for these things Paul asks for for the Colossians.  We pray that we all might know God more, serve Him better, glorify Him in all that we do, walk worthy of the name Christian, and bear fruit for Christ.  

I don’t know if you realize it, but mindless, thoughtless, brainless, heartless, ungrateful, self-sufficient, independent, prayerless Christianity --- isn’t Christianity at all.  What we have here in these opening verses is everything we’re supposed to be about as believers in the Lord Jesus.  These are the things we should be praying for, the greatest of which would be an ever deeper knowledge and understanding of the person of God Himself.  We as His children are capable of knowing God better and better, more and more.  It is my sincere prayer that God would grant that we, Grace Fellowship, may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  Is that how you pray for us?  Is that how you pray for you?
----
1. All Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise stated.