COLOSSIANS (5) Paul’s Prayer (2) (Col. 1:9-12)

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” (Col 1:9-12)

​Review
Last Sunday, we started talking about what Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians in Colossians chapter 1. Paul heard about their faith and situation from Epaphras and started praying for them right afterwards.
 
Paul prayed that the Colossian Christians would be filled with two specific things—the knowledge of God and God’s power. We talked about the knowledge part last Sunday. There were a few things we learned about the knowledge of God through Paul’s prayer.
 
1) The Knowledge of God Comes from the Holy Spirit
First, we learned that the source of the knowledge of God is the Holy Spirit. Paul said that we can be filled with the knowledge of God through the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, which means that we can never have a proper knowledge of God unless we’re filled with and guided by the Holy Spirit.
 
The Holy Spirit is the true author of the Bible. Because the Holy Spirit Himself is God, He knows even the deepest thoughts of God. So, if we want to know who God is, we must first pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, confessing the limits of our minds.
 
2) The Benefits of the Knowledge of God
Paul prayed that they would be filled with the knowledge of God because it’s essential in Christian life. In verse 10, Paul lists four benefits that come from having the knowledge of God
 
First, it allows us to live a life worthy of the Lord. It means that we keep seeking God’s will and following it to the point that His will becomes our will. But the knowledge of God itself is not the goal. God has given us the knowledge so that it transforms us and allows us to live in accordance with His will.
 
Knowledge of God that’s not lived out in our lives makes us arrogant. But when we truly live out the knowledge of God, it makes us humble and conforms us to the image of Jesus.
 
Knowing God teaches us what pleases Him. The more we know who God is, the more we’ll want to worship Him and please Him. We won’t be interested in what pleased us before; instead, our joy comes from doing what pleases Him the most. That’s the second benefit of having the knowledge of God.
 
The third benefit is that it allows us to bear fruit in every good work. When our lives are in line with God’s will, we’ll remain in Him and His words will remain in us, and we’ll naturally bear good fruit that glorifies Him in everything we do.
 
The fourth benefit is that it allows us to grow spiritually. Just as our physical body needs nutrients to grow, our souls need spiritual food, which is the knowledge of God.
 
That’s what the apostle Peter also urged his readers to do. He said, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pt 3:18)
 
These are the four benefits of the knowledge of God that we should keep asking for. We’re to continuously ask to be filled with the knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit so that we can live a life worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him, bearing good fruit, and becoming more like Jesus in every way.
 
The Power of God
Now, let’s move on to the next part of Paul’s prayer for the Colossian Christians. He prayed that they would be “strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Col 1:11)
 
In this verse, we see three aspects of how God’s power works in Christians’ lives.
 
1) God’s Power Satisfies Our Souls
First, we know that the source of Christians’ strength is God. We need various kinds of energy in our lives. We need physical energy to live. To get physical energy, we eat, exercise, and sleep.
 
We also need emotional energy. When we’re mentally or emotionally exhausted, we recharge our mental battery by spending time alone or with our loved ones, traveling, listening to music, reading books, and more.
 
Both of these types of energy are important. However, there’s one last type of energy that’s the most important in our lives—spiritual energy, which is often neglected.
 
Because we were created in God’s image, the emptiness of our souls can only be satisfied by God’s presence. And when our spiritual energy runs out, we experience great hunger in our souls.
 
I think all people have this spiritual hunger. The problem is that we turn to the wrong things to fill our spiritual hunger. Physical energy can never satisfy our souls. Neither can emotional energy. Only spiritual energy can satisfy our souls. And that spiritual energy only comes from God because He is the One who created our spirits.
 
David was well aware of this. So, when he was in the Desert of Judah fleeing from King Saul, even though he was in a hopeless situation, he could still praise God, saying,
 
“Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips… Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.” (Ps 63:4-7, NKJV)
 
Even though David was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted, he could still say, “My soul is satisfied,” because he knew that God was there with Him, helping him, and comforting and satisfying his soul. That was the reason that David was able to not lose hope even in the worst situation.
 
The prophet Isaiah also said, “The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail” (Is 58:11, NKJV)
 
What these verses show is that we need all three types of energy—physical, emotional, and spiritual—but they don’t all have the same value. The most important type of energy is spiritual energy because it satisfies the deepest thirst of our souls that worldly things can't ever satisfy.
 
That was the energy that Jesus wanted to give to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Jesus told her, “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14)
 
She met Jesus and was satisfied by the spiritual water He gave her. She felt true spiritual satisfaction in her soul that her past 5 husbands and the man she lived with at that time could never satisfy.
 
So, the most important type of energy that we should always be interested in is spiritual energy. Even if we lack food, we can still live. Even if we lack friends, we can still live. But if we lack God, we can’t live because He is the only source of eternal life.
 
What makes me sad is that people who are spiritually hungry try to fill their souls with the physical or emotional sources I mentioned earlier rather than with God. Although they might satisfy us for a little while, they can never fully satisfy our souls because our souls can only be satisfied by eternal things.
 
As Ecclesiastes 3:11 and 14 say, “He has also set eternity in the human heart… everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.” (Ec 3:11, 14)
 
So, we should never neglect our spiritual hunger or try to fill it with non-spiritual things. That will never work; it will only make things worse. Instead, we should always be strengthened by God’s eternal power.
 
2) God’s Glorious Might
In his prayer, Paul revealed that the source of Christians’ strength is God’s glorious might. God’s power is glorious because it reveals who He is. And God’s power is revealed in the most glorious way through Jesus Christ.
 
Paul also prayed for the believers in Ephesus to know how great God’s power is.
 
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know… his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Eph 1:18-21)
 
Here, God’s mighty strength was shown in three ways. First, with His power, God raised Christ from the dead. Second, God seated Christ at His right hand. Third, God made Christ the Lord over everything.
 
Paul called God’s power ‘incomparably great.’ There are many kinds of power in the world, but nothing can compare to God’s great power because no power on earth is eternal or can raise people from the dead.
 
So, God’s power reveals His glory. His power is glorious because it makes those who truly know and experience it bow down before Him and worship Him.
 
That’s the power Paul prayed would strengthen the Christians in Colossae. They needed to know God’s glorious might and be strengthened with His power so that they could stand strong and rejoice in all circumstances, putting their hope in the Lord.
 
3) God’s Power Allows Us to Have Endurance
After praying that they would be strengthened by God’s glorious power, Paul reveals the specific reason why they needed it.
 
“…so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” (Col 1:11-12)
 
This might sound disappointing. We might think, “the only result of God’s power is patience?” We might expect something greater than that.
 
However, endurance and patience are what we really need to live for Christ in the world because if we really try to live for Jesus, we will constantly face suffering and rejection.
 
So, in order to keep enduring every difficulty we face because of our faith and not be discouraged, we should be filled with God’s glorious might.
 
That was how Jesus was able to bear the cross silently. When everyone abandoned Him, including His disciples, Jesus wasn’t shaken but continued to do His work. Through ruthless torture, He didn’t open His mouth but endured it with great perseverance. And “[Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame.” (Heb 12:2)
 
And as a result, Jesus was resurrected from the dead and finally “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). That was how God’s glorious might worked powerfully in Jesus’ life.
 
The apostle Paul also experienced God’s great might in his life. Through his letters, we know how much he suffered because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
Paul said,
“Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God…” (2 Co 6:4)
 
During his mission trips, Paul had some near-death experiences. He was stoned, imprisoned, beaten, rejected, insulted, and more. But Paul was able to persevere through every situation with great endurance because of God’s great power. God’s glorious might held him up throughout all of the troubles and hardships. Not only that, he was also able to praise God and give thanks to Him.
 
So, Paul never stopped preaching the gospel. Even when he was in the worst situation, he never stopped praising God or praying to Him.
 
In Romans 8, Paul professed,
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Rm 8:35-37)
 
Paul was able to profess the confidence he had in Jesus even when he faced death because God strengthened him with His power and protected his heart with the love of Christ.
 
When he faced a difficult situation, he didn’t focus on it, but rather looked to God. Paul fixed his eyes on Jesus and knew that the eternal glory that He would give him far outweighed his momentary suffering.
 
Paul even said,
“Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” (Col 1:24)
 
That’s the power we need in order to keep our faith and proclaim Jesus to those around us. We need it to patiently endure any present suffering we may experience because of our faith in Jesus and to give thanks to God and rejoice in suffering.
 
Without this power, we can never truly follow God’s will or live a life worthy of the Lord. Without this power, we’ll end up disowning Jesus.
 
But, when we truly experience God’s glorious might and are filled with it, we’ll be able to not only endure difficulties, but also rejoice and give thanks to God because of them, which is a common characteristic of true Christians.
 
When the apostles were flogged and ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus, Acts 5:41 says,
 
“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Ac 5:41)
 
Paul also said,
“I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Co 12:9-10)
 
If there are two words that don’t go with suffering and difficulty, they would be gratitude and joy. But Christians rejoice in difficulties all the more because of the glorious power of God working in their lives.
 
I want us to experience God’s glorious power not only today, but every day of our lives. And I will also pray according to the great example of Paul’s prayer that God will continuously fill you up with His great power so that you can truly experience the power of God and endure every situation, especially difficulties you may face because of your faith in Jesus, with great thanksgiving and joy.
 
Let’s pray.
 
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing us to know about how great and glorious Your power is through Your word.
 
We confess that only You can satisfy the deep thirst of our souls. Let us not try to find any other sources. Let us rely on You more and drink from Your well so that we can experience true satisfaction and joy in our souls.
 
Oh Lord, we want to know how great Your power is. Please open our hearts and give us Your wisdom so that we may know Your great power which raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him the name above all names.
 
We confess our weakness. We rely on You, Lord. Please show us who You are and fill us with Your glorious might so that we won’t be afraid of any difficulties we may face because of our faith in Jesus but continue to live for You with great confidence, gratitude, and joy. We give our lives to You.
 
We thank You, Lord. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
 
Sharing Questions
Today we talked about the importance of being filled with God’s power in Christian life. Here are the questions I want us to think about.   
 
1) Do you believe that God is all-powerful? How do you know? Think about some cases in which God’s glorious power was revealed in the Scriptures and share them.
 
2) Have you experienced God’s power strengthening you to endure difficulties and overcome problems? In what area of your life do you want to experience God’s power more now?