Paul’s Principles for Prayer
Colossians 1:9–14
“Exclusive of the Psalms, which form a prayer-book on their own, the Bible records no fewer than 650 definite prayers, of which no less than 450 have recorded answers,” wrote Bible commentator Herbert Lockyer.1 The Bible contains a treasure trove of spiritual instruction, enlightenment, and edification on prayer; but few people avail themselves of its revelation and wisdom.
The apostle Paul greatly valued prayer. Praying throughout each day was normal and natural for him. His prayers often were brief; explicit; and directed to specific, daily needs.
Early in his epistle to the Colossian church, Paul repeated his assurance of continual prayer for the believers. Encouraged by their faith in Christ and growth in their spiritual walks, Paul prayed the Colossians would stand steadfast against false teaching. Epaphras, his fellow minister in the faith, reported on the church’s love in the Spirit (cf. Col. 1:7–8).
In the verses that follow, Paul assured Epaphras and the Colossians of his continual prayers for them.
Request in Paul’s Prayer
Paul prayed “that you [the Colossians] may be filled with the knowledge of His [God’s] will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (v. 9).
False teachers in the church preached doctrine contrary to the truth of God. Therefore, Paul prayed that God would impede and oppose this teaching. He assured the believers that God would provide them with a truer, fuller knowledge of His will.
The word knowledge (Greek, epignosis) means a deep and thorough discernment of the will of God, which is finally and completely revealed in His Word. This definition mirrors what Paul expressed when he wrote, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10).
God’s will is known fully in the sphere of “all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col. 1:9). The terms wisdom and spiritual understanding indicate possessing the highest mental insight into all things pertaining to God’s will and applying it in daily living. Christians who do so will be prepared to walk in God’s will through the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
Reasons for Paul’s Prayer
Paul provides the reasons for his prayer:
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 (vv. 10–12).
Walk worthy means to live in a way that is consistent with identification in Jesus Christ. Christians should model or imitate Him in all things and anticipate and enact all that the Lord wants them to do, as revealed in His Word.
Paul lists four ways to practice a worthy walk:
1. “Being fruitful in every good work” (v. 10). Bearing fruit is the outward manifestation of an inner life yielded to the Holy Spirit. Notice, in Galatians 5:22, Paul used the singular “fruit of the Spirit,” not the plural fruits, as some misquote the verse. The Holy Spirit produces and controls nine Christian virtues through a believer’s new nature. These virtues fall into three categories: (1) psychological—love, joy, and peace; (2) public—longsuffering, goodness, and gentleness; and (3) personal—kindness, faithfulness, and self-control (vv. 22–23).
2. “Increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). Bearing fruit always increases a believer’s knowledge of God, an outward demonstration of growth in Christ.
3. Being “strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power” (v. 11). God continually empowers believers through the indwelling Holy Spirit to face and overcome all of life’s difficulties. The strength God provides supplies Christians with “patience and longsuffering with joy” (v. 11), which are needed to live victoriously in Him (cf. Phil. 4:13).
4. “Giving thanks to the Father” (Col. 1:12). The apostle Paul modeled this instruction by thanking God continually, and he gave several reasons why he did so. Because of:
→ Our inheritance. Anyone who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ for salvation is qualified to receive this inheritance, which is found “in the light” (v. 12). We are now fit to be in Christ, who is the light of God’s spiritual Kingdom now and forever. While we wait for Christ to take us home to glory, we have access to our spiritual inheritance in Christ now (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9).
→ Our deliverance. Paul wrote, “He [Christ] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col. 1:13). This liberation takes place at an unbeliever’s conversion. God the Father plays an active role in each person’s salvation and deliverance from Satan’s power [Greek, exousian], meaning his authority or tyrannical rule. Before salvation, all people are controlled by their sin natures and are subjects of Satan’s kingdom (Eph. 2:1–2). When Jesus was crucified, giving up His sinless life as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of mankind, Satan’s power and control over man was “judged,” or broken (Jn. 16:11). Thus, believers have been delivered from Satan’s power. In other words, at the cross, Satan’s power was rendered ineffective, unable to hold believers in bondage. Thus, true believers in Jesus have been rescued from Satan’s kingdom and are free in Christ.
→ Our entrance into another realm of life: “the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col. 1:13). God manifested His love through His Son. Christ’s work was completed on the cross (Jn. 19:30), and He continues to bring people to salvation through Jesus Christ (Heb. 7:25).
Redemption in Paul’s Prayer
Paul’s final reasons for thankfulness are the benefits and blessings believers enjoy through their union with Christ, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14).
In the Old Testament, the word redemption refers to God preserving and restoring Israel as a nation after the Israelites fled Egyptian captivity. God provided redemption through His power (Ex. 13:14) and in His lovingkindness (Isa. 63:9), accompanied with justice (1:27).
In the New Testament, God provided redemption for individuals through the shed blood of Christ alone. His sacrifice atoned for all the sins of mankind (Rom. 3:24–26). This provision applies only to those who have professed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Thus, God Himself paid the ransom price for sin through the blood of His dear Son (cf. Jn. 3:16). Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to redeem himself or herself (1 Pet. 1:18–19).
The phrase we have (Col. 1:14) refers to the union believers have with Christ and the eternal security guaranteed to them, having been redeemed, or purchased, from the marketplace of sin. Redemption releases believers from the curse of God’s Law (Gal. 3:13; 4:5). God also will redeem the bodies of all believers in Christ at the Rapture of the church (1 Cor. 15:50–54).
Paul further defined redemption as “the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). The word forgiveness (Greek, aphesis) means “to send away.” It also can mean “to release from bondage or imprisonment, to pardon, to grant remission of a penalty, or set at liberty.”
Jesus made the supreme sacrifice by shedding His blood to redeem us, forgive us, and liberate us from the penalty of sin. Praise God!
Like Paul, we need to thank God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ continually for His great gift of salvation that we will enjoy throughout eternity.
ENDNOTE
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- Herbert Lockyer, All the Prayers of the Bible: A Devotional and Expositional Classic (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1959), Publisher’s Foreword.
