Paul wrote to the church at Colosse, saying, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;” (Colossians 1:9)
In verse 10, he says that our walk would be more pleasing to the Lord, our good works would be more fruitful, and we would continue “growing” in our knowledge of God. Then, verse 11 says that we would be strengthened for whatever we must face, we would be more patient, and that we would be enabled to be more longsuffering. And, in addition to all of that, Paul tells us that this increase would have an over-riding quality of joy about it. Wow! Like the feller said, “Where’s some?” We could all use a good dose of whatever that is, couldn’t we?
Friends, this is the type of growth that spiritually minded people desire. And, wouldn’t you want your pastor to be praying this for you like Paul did for the Colossians? After all, how much benefit, encouragement, and joy could your family, your friends, your co-workers, and even your church receive from such growth as this? I have no doubt that growth like this would be as readily received as a cool breeze on a hot summer’s day. It would be a welcomed and blessed enrichment to us all.
So then, the question that remains to be answered is this: How is it going to happen? How can these results be realized? Who’s to blame if we don’t have it? What is standing in the way of our having more joy of a more godly walk, more fruitful works, knowing more of God’s will, having more strength for trials, and being more longsuffering and patient? Well, the answer here is profoundly simple, but simply profound: prayer, and reading your Bible. There is no substitute for a good and healthy prayer life, and, there is no better preaching than the Bible. Now, if you think that is too simplistic to have much merit, consider this: 1) Jesus himself, being God in the flesh, spent much time in prayer; and 2) He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Granted, there are other things involved in this answer, but more often than not, those in the greatest need of the things mentioned above, are those who are lacking in their prayer life and/or those who are not feeding daily on the Bread of Life. May God help us all to give more attention to these two things.
In the love of Christ,
Elder Clayton Nowell
Then, in the next several verses, he details a number of rich blessings to be derived from being “filled with the knowledge of His will.”Friends, this is the type of growth that spiritually minded people desire. And, wouldn’t you want your pastor to be praying this for you like Paul did for the Colossians? After all, how much benefit, encouragement, and joy could your family, your friends, your co-workers, and even your church receive from such growth as this? I have no doubt that growth like this would be as readily received as a cool breeze on a hot summer’s day. It would be a welcomed and blessed enrichment to us all.
So then, the question that remains to be answered is this: How is it going to happen? How can these results be realized? Who’s to blame if we don’t have it? What is standing in the way of our having more joy of a more godly walk, more fruitful works, knowing more of God’s will, having more strength for trials, and being more longsuffering and patient? Well, the answer here is profoundly simple, but simply profound: prayer, and reading your Bible. There is no substitute for a good and healthy prayer life, and, there is no better preaching than the Bible. Now, if you think that is too simplistic to have much merit, consider this: 1) Jesus himself, being God in the flesh, spent much time in prayer; and 2) He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Granted, there are other things involved in this answer, but more often than not, those in the greatest need of the things mentioned above, are those who are lacking in their prayer life and/or those who are not feeding daily on the Bread of Life. May God help us all to give more attention to these two things.
In the love of Christ,
Elder Clayton Nowell