PRAYING FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD "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; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." (Colossians 1:9-11, KJV) 'Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."
Devotion 31 of 32
All of this is not a mere exercise of self-discipline. The perceptive heart knows these things are too demanding for natural abilities. Ponder the matters for which Paul has prayed – matters that are nowhere represented as being optional for any member of the body of Christ.
1. Filled with the knowledge of God's will (1:9a).
2. Filled with a knowledge that is "in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (1:9b).
3. That they might walk worthy of the Lord (1:1:10a).
4. That their lives might result in being "all pleasing" to God (1:10b).
5. That they would be "fruitful in every good work" (1:10c).
6. That they would be "increasing in the knowledge of God" (1:10d).
7. That they would be "strengthened with all might according to" God's "glorious power" (1:11a).
8. That their strength would result in all patience, or perseverance (1:11b).
9. That their strength would result in all longsuffering (1:11c).
10. That their strength would result in all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness (1:11d).
There is a principle of Divine working made known in salvation that must be to some measure grasped by the saints of God. In Christ, what God gives is essential. His gifts are necessary and not mere luxuries, or representative of a special plateau of discipleship. The "gift of God is eternal life" (Rom 6:23) – but it is certainly not optional. There is also "the gift of righteousness (Rom 5:17) – but who is the soul that imagines they can do without it. Salvation is in its entirety, together with the faith that appropriates it, is called "the gift of God" (Eph 2:8) – but nothing about that expression suggests it is not necessary.
The nature and demands of spiritual life require the resources and abilities sought in this prayer. No person can afford to imagine they can do without them. No person will dwell forever in the courts of the Lord who was not patient – who did not persevere and finish the race set before him. Being forever with the Lord requires longsuffering in this world – the capacity to endure all manner of hardships. The rigors of discipleship are too demanding to fulfilled without joy. What person imagines they will hear "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" who has not walked worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing? These are all necessary things.
We must have power from outside ourselves in order to be "strengthened with all might." If the objective is to have "ALL patience and longsuffering with joyfulness," we need help "from above." That help comes in the form of "His glorious power" – the kind of power that raised Jesus from the dead, and enthroned Him at God's right hand, invested with all power in heaven and earth. That is the kind of power it takes to realize these required results, and that is the kind of power God will give us. It is right for us to seek such power, and expect to receive it.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, help me to be more perceptive of what is required to safely navigate from earth to glory.
-- Tomorrow: