COLOSSIANS 1:9-12
MAGNIFICENT PRAYER
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdomG1922 and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledgeG1922 of God, being strengthened with all powerG1411 according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. Colossians 1:9-12 (BSB)
G1922 epignōsis – recognition, i.e. (by impl.) full discernment, acknowledgment:-, ac-)knowledge (-ing,-ment).
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
G1411 dunamis – force (lit. or fig.); spec. miraculous power (usually by impl. a miracle itself): – ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle(-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
MAGNIFICENT PRAYER
Once again Paul voices a magnificent prayer
Entrusting the Colossians to God’s tender care.
He asks God to fill them with wisdom and understanding
And to strengthen them for tasks that may be demanding.
He prays they’ll bear fruit and walk worthy of the Lord,
Growing in the knowledge of God through the word.
Let this be a model of how we should pray
For our spiritual and biological children each day.
And, Lord, I pray that you’ll also work these things in me
And help me to be all you’d have me to be.
Paul’s prayers constantly challenge us to be specific and bold in our own. When God gives us the opportunity to encourage another believer, we need to pray for her to grow in full discernment of the Lord. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will so reveal himself to her that she will have greater understanding of God’s word and his ways. We should pray for Christ’s miraculous power to be real in her life and enable her to do good works in his name. We should encourage her to endure all things the Lord brings her through and let her know that We joyfully thank God for her salvation.
Like the other prayers I (Susie) have read in Ephesians and Philippians, this one shows me specific ways to pray for my children as well. As I write this in 2007, my daughter is interviewing for a ministry position and needing to discern God’s will concerning this opportunity. Tonight, I will pray the prayer above inserting her name. My son is serving in the army in Iraq. He needs to be certain of the presence of the Lord and to be infused with God’s power in order to endure. I most certainly will insert his name in the verses above as well. My son’s wife is expecting their second child, and I’m sure she could use great patience while her husband is so far away in a dangerous place. Paul’s prayer for the Colossians will become my prayer for my family tonight.
Father, I thank you for the salvation of my children and for entrusting them to my care for the brief time they were in my home. Susan and I still pray that they will grow in their understanding of your will and your ways and be strengthened with your mighty power to face all that lies ahead for them. Thank you for watching over them. Help them to live worthy of you and to be thankful.