Thoughts for Life: #28 A Prayer for Spiritual Riches

Alvin Vandergriend- Colossians 1:9-12 (v. 9) " . . . We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

(v. 10 )And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, (v. 10) being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully (v. 12) giving thanks to the father." (Google image, Praying woman)

Some years ago this great prayer of Paul for the Colossian Christians took me on a prayer journey. It began as I contemplated the amazing depth and scope of Paul's prayer for the Colossians and thought, "It sure would be great to have Paul as a prayer partner."

Then it occurred to me that if I prayed for these blessings for myself, God would surely grant what I asked, since these are all in line with his will. I began immediately to claim them.

Then I thought, "I can't have Paul praying these things for me, but I can be the one who prays them for others. So I began to pray these petitions regularly for my wife and children, as well as for other family members and friends.

What impresses me most is that these intercessory requests are all spiritual in nature. There is no prayer here for the physical or material concerns of life. Of course, we should pray for physical things like health, energy and protection. But Paul's praying the spiritual blessings clearly overshadow the physical.

Try to imagine, for example, what would happen in a person's spiritual life if everything the person asked in a prayer were granted in increasing measure. He or she would be.

growing deeper day by day in the knowledge of God's will
applying biblical principles to daily living by the wisdom and insight of the Holy Spirit
living exemplary Christian life that brings credit to Jesus Christ and joy to God's heart
engaging in all kinds of fruitful ministry activities
continuing to grow deeper in the knowledge of God
enduring with joy and patience the toughest of life experiences by the awesome power of God within
joyfully giving thanks to God the father, all the while looking confidently forward to life in the new and glorious kingdom of light.

Wow! I'd sure like to be that person, wouldn't you? So would many believers who live and work near you — and your prayers can help make this a reality for them.

I am sure that Paull's prayers made a real difference in the Colossian congregation he prayed for. God, you see, is eager to answer these kinds of prayers because what is being prayed for is exactly what God wants to see happening in our lives and in the church.

Aren't there some folks you would like to bless in this way?

(pp. 74, 75 in Love to Pray- 40 Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life by Alvin Vandergriend)

Let's pray-

Father, we ask for what Paul prays for the Colossians: that You would fill us with the knowledge of Your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that we may live a life worthy of You, to please You in every way, and that we would bear good work, growing in the knowledge of You, being strengthened with all power according to Your glorious ight so that we may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving our thanks to You.

Help us pray for this daily, and to pray it for our family and church friends, too! There would no doubt be a change in us if we would be faithful to pray this way. Because You are gracious, willing and able to bless us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, we give You praise!

The blessing of this kind of prayer, provides the means for our ability to pray effectively for ourselves and others. We ask that You forgive us for not praying this way for people we know, and to help us start afresh today, to be obedient to Your Spirit's guidance to tailor them to specific persons and situations.

We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

Romans 15:2-5 "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. (v. 3) For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.' (v. 4) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (v. 5) Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus." (v. 6) That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ."

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NLT) "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged."

Some good advice:

- Ryan Duncan- "Listening is the first step in acting out the scriptures, not speaking. The Church has the potential to do so much good in the world, to share the love of Christ with so many people. However, in order to do this we must first stop talking, sit quietly, and get to know them. We need to hear their stories, understand their hurts, empathize with their anger, and then, when they have nothing else to say, that is when we speak our truth. It's time to start using our ears before we use our words.

Today's Popular post-
A Lesson From A Donkey (12/8/12)

Nadia Lanakieva tells us, the story of a donkey, and the lesson she learned.

"You need to learn from the old donkey! The thought churned in my mind.

I’d lost my job, felt discouraged, and turned to God for help. Was there a lesson I needed to learn? Turned out there was, and the teacher was a donkey."