Have you ever wondered about what certain people in the Bible prayed? I wonder what Saul was praying for those three days in Damascus. What was it that Jesus prayed right after He was baptized by John? What were the disciples in the upper room praying before the day of Pentecost?
However, we are graciously enlightened of the things for which others fervently prayed. One instance is found in the book written to the Colossian church by Paul, in which he wrote: For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light (Colossians 1:9-12, NKJV).
As underlined above, there are three requests Paul made of God for these Christians, and by extension, all Christians. First of all, we see that we should keep increasing in our knowledge of God's will, which will help us to attain wisdom and understanding. Secondly, we should walk worthy of the Lord, and we do that by bearing fruit in good works, and, increasing in our knowledge of God; that is, in addition to the will of God, we come to know God Himself. Thirdly, Paul prayed for their spiritual strength, specifically to have patience and longsuffering. Patience being the ability to bear up under difficult circumstances. Longsuffering being the ability to bear with difficult people. Those things are not so difficult when we joyfully reflect upon our inheritance.
All three of these requests are possible because of God to whom it was prayed, and His Son by whom we have been redeemed by His blood from our sins. Therefore we should set our minds on pleasing Him, not on the world (Col. 3:1,2). Thus, Paul writes these Christians to "put to death" (3:5) those sins by which they may still be tempted. He writes, But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth (3:8). Some Christians may not be tempted with certain sins, but a lot struggle with these.
Is it because some do not see these as big sins? Or have we not studied or preached sufficiently on these topics? Could it be we believe we are right in our anger and vitriol, but are actually blinded by pride? The wise man wrote, Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts (Proverbs 21:2). Since "the Lord weighs the hearts," we must go to His word and examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). Flaring tempers, slander, and ill-will toward others have no place in the kingdom of Christ. May we remove any vices or influences that stimulate such behavior. Then, the church will be an answer to the apostle's prayer.
Brotherly, Jamie
