What should I pray for consistently? Aside from our immediate needs (health, jobs, direction), we often do not know what we should pray about or who we should pray for. We don’t know how or what to pray for our own spiritual lives, much less the lives of our fellow church members or friends. Thankfully, God’s Word shows us the what and the how!

This week we continue our study of Colossians  by studying 1:9-14, where Paul moves from his opening greeting and thanksgiving to encouraging the Colossians by giving them insight into how and what he prays for them. He does this to show them that God is answering their prayers and to model for them what they are to pray for, look for, and rejoice in.

I think Paul highlights two main prayer requests here, requests that all of us should regularly pray for ourselves and other believers in our lives:

1. To be filled with the knowledge of God’s will (1:9)

Paul’s first request is that the Colossians would be “filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual insight” (v. 9). The “will” and “insight” that he has in mind here is not the specifics regarding who to marry or which job to take, but God’s will for all his people- the will to know his Son and walk with Him.

How do I know that? Because Paul tells his readers why he prays this for them, “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (v. 10).” The kind of spiritual understanding he is praying for is understanding what God wants (to trust his Son) and what kind of life is pleasing and honoring to his Son.

Paul then describes the kind of life, or “walk,” that is pleasing to the Son. First, it is a walk that bears fruit. “Fruit” is the tangible evidence of God’s work in and through us. It includes spiritual growth, holiness, and having an eternal impact through our ministry (and yes, everyone is called to minister wherever God plants them!).

Bearing fruit is using the gifts God has given us, in dependence upon the Spirit who dwells inside us, to impact those around us. It is becoming more and more like Jesus, and because of that, introducing more and more people to Jesus.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should last,” Jesus said in John 15:16. These words were spoken to his original disciples, but they apply to all his disciples. Our Lord is pleased when we bear fruit![1]

The second aspect of a walk that is pleasing to the Lord is a life marked by “increasing in the knowledge of God.” Jesus does not save us just so we can labor for his kingdom and see fruit in our ministries. We aren’t just servants, but friends and children of God (John 15:15). He wants us to see fruit in our relationship with God. He wants us to growin our knowledge of God. He wants to see our capacity for a relationship with God to deepen. And that happens as we grow in our knowledge of God.

We can spend so much of our time praying about and being consumed with the little details of our life. Its not that God doesn’t care about those, but what he is primarily concerned with, as was Paul, is that we understand his will and walk in a manner worthy of Christ. If we do that, all the little things will fall into place. For example, our youth pastor regularly tells high school students to not be primarily focused on where God wills for them to go to college but who God wills for them to be wherever they go. That last piece- the who he calls us to be- that’s the knowledge of his will, and that knowledge applies to not only college choices, but to every area of our lives.

2. To be strengthened with God’s power (1:11)

Next, Paul prays for the Colossians to be “strengthened with all power” (v. 11). He writes that this power comes from God’s “glorious might” and that the purpose of this power is to prepare us for endurance and patience. The Greek words behind endurance and patience refer to difficult circumstances and difficult people, respectively. Thus, Paul is praying that God will strengthen the Colossian church to endure any difficult circumstances that may arise and to have the patience to bear with one another in love (Col 3:13; Eph 4:12).

Endurance and patience fuel the unity of the church and strengthen our witness. Paul writes in Romans 15:5-6, “May the god who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When God gives strength, when God helps us endure, it helps us to be of one mind and glorify God better together!

Notice why Paul prays for strength. Not so they can defeat their enemies. Not so they can overcome physical suffering. Not so they can “win in life.” But so they will endure and have patience with joy. This is how the believer endures and has patience. Not with tight-fisted begrudging. But with joy. Why? Because we are confident that whatever comes our way comes sifted through the hands of a good and perfect God who uses everything to accomplish his purposes in us and in his church. During these times, we can “let our light shine so that others may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

We too should pray for all spiritual strength, so that we too can endure difficult circumstances and be patient with one another, trusting that as we seek God and serve him together, our unified endurance brings him much glory and will bear fruit!

3. …with Thanksgiving (1:12-14)

Its important to note that Paul makes these requests with thanksgiving, “We give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (v. 12). He prays just as he tells the Philippians to pray, “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6-7).

Notice, though, what he thanks God for. He thanks God primarily for the person and work of the Son, and the Father’s work of salvation through Him. He reminds the Colossians that the Father rescued them from the kingdom of darkness and transferred them into the kingdom of his beloved Son (v. 12). He reminds them that the Son is the one who has redeemed them (brought them out of bondage by means of payment- his life and death!), and has forgiven their sins!

The primary thrust of our prayers, then, for ourselves and for other believers in our lives, should not be for physical or material blessings, but for growing in the knowledge of God, becoming stronger in our walk with him, bearing fruit in our lives, and becoming more patient. And they should always be offered with a thankful heart to the Triune God for his work of salvation.

Is this how you pray?

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[1] In contrast, his displeasure at the lack of fruit bearing can be seen in Mark 11:12-25.