In Colossians 1:9 the apostle Paul tells the Colossians how he prays for them. He makes a single request - a request for knowledge. Apparently, Paul believed knowledge is important for living the Christian life. However, it wasn't just any old knowledge. Let's take a look at what he says.
His prayer for them is found at the beginning of a letter which teaches them about the sufficiency of Christ.
Colossians 1:9
9For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding
Paul teaches us that a genuine pursuit of Christ must include prayer. In fact, we could say that there is no genuine pursuit of Christ that does not include prayer. It has to be this way. When we don’t pray, we demonstrate pride. We are saying by our prayerlessness that we can do things on our own. We are saying that we don’t need His help.
Prayer is crucial to pursuing Christ. How should we pray? What should we pray for? We could say a lot of things to answer those questions, but let’s consider Paul’s single request for the Colossians. If you narrowed down your requests made to God about yourself, what would it be? We have a lot to learn from Paul.
Pray regularly for a true knowledge of God’s Word that controls you.
That’s what we should glean from Paul’s prayer for the Colossians. Let’s consider each part of this.
The request must be regular.
Read the first half of verse 9. Our prayerful pursuit of Christ begins with a request for knowledge. We will look at what the knowledge means in a minute, but notice first that we need to pray regularly for it.
Paul’s prayer for the Colossians was regular. It was unceasing. What does Paul mean when he says, “we have not ceased to pray for you?” It obviously does not mean that he does nothing else in life other than pray for the Colossians. However, he is not exaggerating. He is writing under inspiration; therefore, we know he is being truthful. He does many things in life, but he regularly prays for the Colossians. He had determined in his own heart to regularly pray for them, and then he says to them, “we have not ceased to pray for you.” “We have been faithful to pray for you.” Paul was persistent in his prayer for the Colossians because he loved them, and because he knew it was necessary if they were to know the sufficiency of Christ in their lives.
He prayed regularly in spite of the fact that he didn’t see them and interact with them. Paul had never seen the Colossians. Look at Colossians 2:1 to see this. Epaphrus came to Paul in prison. Paul only had Epaphrus’ report to go on (look at 1:7-8 to see this). For Paul, out of sight did not mean out of mind. Paul prayed faithfully for the Colossians even though he did not see them all the time.
Paul prayed regularly in spite of the fact that they were doing well (spiritually) so far. Paul begins verse 9 with the phrase, “For this reason.” For what reason? Paul has just described how he heard such good news about the Colossians. He took notice of the faith, love, and hope that God had produced in their lives. He thanked God for it – the spiritual fruit. It was this good report – this position of being blessed by God that moved Paul to pray on their behalf.
We tend to pray when there is a problem, or when their might be a problem. It is good to pray during these times, but we should also pray earnestly and regularly for certain things that God has already given us. When God blesses you with something that you need all the time – thank Him and ask Him to continue to provide for you that way. It was the importance of the matter that motivated Paul to pray for help.
So, what is this important request?
The request must be for knowledge
Paul prayed regularly for knowledge. Look at verse 9 again.
Knowledge was important to Paul. He understood that a believer’s relationship with Christ will never be greater than his knowledge of God. Think about that statement. A believer’s relationship with Christ will never be greater than his knowledge. That is why Paul so often prayed for knowledge.
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Later in his letter to the Colossians, Paul will tell them that their growth in godliness will involve the work of putting off the old man, having their minds renewed “according to a true knowledge” and putting on the new man. Without the continual renewal of the mind in true knowledge, a man will not grow in Christlikeness.
Knowledge is essential. You may run into other believers that will tell you that knowledge is not so important. They may make the statement, “I may not know much about the Bible, but I sure like to serve people.” Or they may say, “It is not what you know that is important, it is what you do.” Or, “Johnny, he doesn’t read His Bible much. He can’t tell you much theology stuff, but he has a heart of gold.”
Often it is the case that these well-meaning believers think there are only two options: (1) you can be an academic book-worm that is no good to anyone or (2) you can be a warm, people-loving person. This is a false dichotomy. That is to say, it is wrong to think that a person that diligently studies the Word will not be warm and people-loving. In fact, the Scripture tells us that every Christian should diligently study God’s Word and be loving towards people.
You need to reject the idea that knowledge is not essential to the Christian life. You must pursue knowledge.
The request must be for true knowledge of God’s Word
Look at the second part of verse 9. He wants to see them filled with the knowledge of His will. Scripture writers refer to the will of God in two different senses.
The first is what some call the “decretive will of God.” This refers to the decrees of God. When God wills for something to happen, it will happen. God’s will can never be thwarted. We don’t know this will of God until after it happens. This is why it is sometimes called the “secret will of God.” However, we do know some of what He has decreed for the future, right? The Book of Revelation tells us a lot. So, some of it really isn’t secret. Nevertheless, most of it, we don’t know. When is the snow going to come? We don’t know. We might like to know. Right?
When Paul prays that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of His will, is he praying that they would know the future, God’s “decretive will?” No. We aren’t supposed to know all of God’s decretive will.
Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of the Law.
We are not supposed to know all these things.
Scripture writers also refer to another “will of God” – many have called it the “revealed will of God.” Here are some examples:
2 Peter 3:9
9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
3For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
1 Peter 2:13-15
13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,
14or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
15For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
This revealed will of God is also called the “moral will of God.” The moral will of God is revealed to us in the Scriptures. If you want to know God’s will, you must know the Word of God. This is exactly what Paul is praying for.
Paul prays that the Colossians would know the moral will of God. Then he proceeds to tell them the moral will of God. That is what the rest of the book of Colossians is about. We will have to pray for a true knowledge of God’s Word, but we will also have to study it.
When he prays for a knowledge of the will of God, he is not merely referring to an intellectual understanding of the meaning of the words and phrases.
Intellectual knowledge, but more than intellectual
Look at last part of verse 9. He says that the knowledge is “in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” It is spiritual – that is, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. But, it is wisdom and understanding that the Spirit produces. Wisdom and understanding are essentially synonyms. They both speak of the application of biblical principles to daily living. Wisdom is skillful living.
There are many people in the world that understand the words and phrases of the Bible, but that have no wisdom and understanding. They are not skilled at living. They have no true knowledge of the Word. Many have written books on the Bible, but still they have no true knowledge of the Scriptures.
If you read the Bible with no view of applying the truth, you have missed the point of the Bible. If you read through Genesis and think to yourself, “God created the world, Abraham was greatly used by God, and Joseph was sold into slavery,” that is good. But if that is all that you think of Genesis, you have missed the whole point of Genesis. You truly understand God’s Word when you say, “God created the world. He created me. He created me for a purpose. He owns me. I must obey Him. Have I been obeying Him?..”
If you listen to God and think only, “Hmm, that is interesting,” you have misunderstood what God is saying. A true knowledge of the Word of God consists of spiritual wisdom and understanding. It certainly requires a right understanding of the words and phrases. But, it also requires the gracious work of the Spirit in leading you to embrace the truth by seeking to live in light of it.
When you read God’s Word with Holy Spirit-given wisdom and knowledge, it certainly will be awesome! It will be a gracious work of God’s Spirit!
Pray, but don’t just sit there
By the way, we cannot merely pray for these things. We must get up and take some action. We must study. Do you ever find yourself praying, but not seeking after the answer? We are hypocrites when we do such a thing.
A son heard is father earnestly praying for some folks that he knew were poor. When his father had finished his prayer, the boy said to him, “Father, I wish I had your corn.” “Why?” his father asked. “I would answer your prayers.”[1]
The request must be for a knowledge of God’s Word that controls you.
Look at how Paul words this request for knowledge. Paul’s prayer is that the Colossians would be “filled” with this knowledge. Often times in Scripture the word, “filled” is used to communicate this idea of control.
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John 16.6 speaks of how the disciples were filled with sorrow.
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Luke 5.26 speaks of a crowd that was filled with fear.
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Luke 16.11 speaks of the Pharisees as they were filled with anger.
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Acts 4.31 speaks of the disciples as being filled with the Holy Spirit.
In each of these cases, that which filled the people controlled them.
Paul prays that this knowledge of the God’s will would fill them, or control them. He is not seeking for a group of believers to have knowledge of God’s will mixed in with something else. He doesn’t want the believers to be eclectic – to mix a little of the world’s thinking, a little of their own ‘insights,’ and a little knowledge of God’s will. He wanted them to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. He wanted God’s will to be the only knowledge that controls them. Paul knew if they were filled with the knowledge of God’s will, there would be no room for any other “knowledge” in them. God’s Word alone should control us.
Conclusion
So, begin now (if you haven’t already) to pray for what matters most. Pray regularly for a true knowledge of God’s Word that controls you. Do you pray this way?
Do you remember that your pursuit of Christ must include regular requests for a true knowledge of God’s Word that controls you? Do you pray for others this way?
[1] I can’t remember where I got this illustration.
