Tag Archives: Spiritual wisdom

AN ALL-INCLUSIVE PRAYER FOR LIFE

Prayer, ,

Colossians 1:9-12 NLT
[9] “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL and to give you SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. [10] Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. [11] We also pray that you will be STRENGTHENED WITH ALL HIS GLORIOUS POWER so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be FILLED WITH JOY, [12] ALWAYS THANKING THE FATHER. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.”

In view of the Colossians’ good report, Paul characteristically pens a prayer for his readers. Although it seems a long, involved request, his prayer is short and simple and expresses his desire for these Colossian believers to experience everything it takes to be a flourishing Christian in a hostile environment.

His five requests are interspersed with the “so that’s” which are the outcome of what God provides in answer to his prayer. Paul’s written prayers are littered with expectations of what his prayers for them will produce.

Let’s examine his prayer in more detail.

  1. Complete knowledge of God’s will.

Knowledge of God’s will is top priority because it is God’s will that should always be paramount in our lives. Since God’s will is expressed in His commands, it shouldn’t be difficult to know what God requires of us.

1 John 3:23 NLT
[23] “And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.”

Everything God wants us to do, be, and become are found in these two simple instructions.

  1. Spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Knowledge itself is helpless without understanding. Knowledge and spiritual wisdom and understanding put us on the road to knowing God better. Knowing God as in intimate knowledge of His character and ways are the essence of eternal life.

John 17:3 NLT
[3] “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

Again, the more we get to know God and understand His ways, the more we will grow in wisdom because wisdom is the application of the knowledge we gain as we learn His ways.

How important this process is in our walk of faith. The Holy Spirit has many functions as our Helper, one of which is to be the Interpreter, making sense of our daily experiences as we traverse life.

  1. Strengthened with all His glorious power.

As much as we need the knowledge of God’s will and the wisdom and understanding to apply it to our daily lives, we need the power to carry out what we learn to do.

This is beyond us as mere mortals. Without God’s enabling, we can no more do God’s will than any unbeliever. Through grace, God’s power works in us to do w hat pleases H.

Philippians 2:12-13 NLT
[12] “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. [13] For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”

This life of faith and obedience is a partnership between God and us. Both partners are essential to pull it off. The spinoff of this partnership is the patience and endurance we need to go the course. There is no reward for those who quit before the end.

  1. Filled with joy.

This race we are called to run is no white-knuckle, nail-biting, worthess endurance exercise just to test our mettle. The prize for those who finish is literally “out of this world”! We don’t run with gritted teeth but with hearts overflowing with joy…there’s a goal so priceless that, to miss it is unthinkable, an unimaginable inheritamce for those who win.

  1. Always thanking the Father.

What better to keep us on track than the goodness of the Father? He has made this all possible; He has done everything for us and in us; He waits at the finish line to reward us for everything He has accomplished. In the end, all the glory belongs to Him.

What a prayer, reaching the heights of God’s desire for His people. Why not pray Paul’s prayer for fellow believers!

PRAYING GOD’S WAY – 12

Prayer, ,

SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND INSIGHT

‭Ephesians 1:16-17 NLT‬
[16] “I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, [17] asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.”

What does Paul mean by ‘spiritual wisdom and insight’? I think he means the way we apply the knowledge and understanding the Holy Spirit has given us (of God, Jesus, and what they mean to us as we learn and receive the truth) through the Word, to the way we live.

Knowledge and understanding alone will not change our lives. We need the spiritual wisdom and insight that help us to apply these truths to our daily thinking and behaviour.

How can the knowledge of the facts about God and Jesus, and the understanding about what they have done for us, change us from selfish sinners to beloved children of God? Something must happen inside us to effect the change.

‭Romans 12:2 NLT‬
[2] “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

We also need the spiritual wisdom and insight to apply these truths as we navigate every test and trial along the way, to understand what is happening to us, why it is happening, and how to respond God’s way by applying His Word to each situation.

There are always two ways to deal with the adversities we face day by day. We can either react out of our old fleshly nature or we can choose to apply God’s wisdom from His Word. If we remember that wisdom is “doing what works”, then we must choose to do whatever helps us to achieve God’s goal for us…

‭Romans 8:29 NLT‬
[29] “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.“

This isn’t easy because we have an old nature that rebels against God’s way but… we also have the Holy Spirit in us who helps us overcome our old nature, and reinforces and grows God’s nature in us.

Paul says that step one is to change the way we think. What we say and do always follow what we think (believe). If we think that doing the wrong thing will work, we will do it.

The Bible is full of instructions about the wrong and right way to behave. For example, how must we respond to insults, or offences? Must we retaliate or must we forgive? We know the answer. Retaliation keeps hostility going; forgiveness brings an end to the issue.

So, we can ask for and apply the spiritual wisdom we and others need to overcome the obstacles we face along the way. Instead of escalating conflicts with others, or adding more sinful responses by our own reactions, we can grow in grace by applying the instructions of God’s word in difficult situations.

We have the Helper, the indwelling presence of God, who will give us insight to understand what is happening, wisdom to know how to respond, and the power to choose right, do right, and defuse whatever threatens to derail us if we ask Him. All we need to do is ask in faith.

‭James 1:5-6 NLT‬
[5] “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. [6] But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.”

The outcome, when we respond to difficulties in the right way, is amazing. We get to know God better! Imagine that! We get to know His character and His ways by working with Him instead of against Him in His desire to make us more like Jesus…

… And He works in us by showing how good He is in all our circumstances. He works good for us in EVERYTHING to get us where He wants us to go.

‭Romans 8:28-29 NLT‬
[28] “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. [29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

PRAYING GOD’S WAY – 9

Prayer, ,

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS

‭Colossians 1:9-10 NLT‬
[9] “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. [10] Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.”

Here is the first of the many prayers in Paul’s letters that give us glimpses into the way he prayed and the way God wants us to pray. In his prayers, he gives examples that help us understand how to pray.

We mostly learn to pray by listening to others pray. So, we continue in the mistakes others make instead of learning from the Bible itself.

As we have already noted, New Testament prayers are concerned with our ‘inner man’ more than with our outward circumstances because our lives now are a preparation for the life to come and a witness to the unbelieving world of God’s grace in us.

Let’s look for a moment at God’s goal for every believer. He is calling people into an intimate relationship with Himself to be a family and to administer His kingdom with Him. Therefore, to achieve His goal, He has a twofold training programme. He must teach us how to overcome our old sinful nature and He must mature us in obedience and submission so that we become like Jesus, His perfect Son.

If these are on His agenda for us in this life, then our prayers for ourselves and others must concentrate on accomplishing what He has designed us to be and to do.

Paul’s written prayer for the Colossians Church has these elements in it.

  1. He prays for knowledge and understanding. How important these are in our journey through this life! If we don’t know what God is doing and if we don’t understand why He is doing what He is doing in us, our lives will continue to be a chaotic muddle.

Our first step in this journey, then, is get where God is going with us so that we learn to cooperate, not fight against, our circumstances and His work in us through them.

  1. He prays for good fruit. Fruit means the visible evidence of the root and nature of the tree. When we are rooted in Jesus, we bear the fruit of our new lives in Christ in two ways; by the work of God’s Spirit in us, who changes the way we relate to God, to others, and to ourselves…

‭Galatians 5:22-23 NLT‬
[22] “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

…And by the way we pass on this new life to others. We sow the seeds of God’s Word into other lives and they, in turn, take root, grow, and produce fruit.

  1. He anticipates growth and maturity in believers. When believers understand who they are and why they are here, and cooperate with God in His work of growing mature sons in His family, God accomplishes His purpose in us and He is glorified.

Our role in prayer, then, is to partner with God in His programme. Instead of praying ‘circumstancial’ prayers, always caught up in the moment and battling our issues, we begin to understand what God is doing and work with Him through faith and patience, praying ‘amens’ to His promises and trusting Him for the grace to persevere.

‭2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT‬
[20] “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”

‭2 Peter 1:4 NLT‬
[4] “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

When we understand this process, our prayers for our everyday circumstances will fit into God’s programme and enable our trust in Him to grow us as He graciously meets our needs on our journey.