We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light.Colossians 1:9-12
Paul is asking God for a great deal on behalf of the Colossian Christians: for spiritual wisdom to understand the very ways and purposes of God so that their lives will always please and honor him; for strength so to walk in patience and endurance; and for not just a survival mentality but for hearts filled with joy and thankfulness no matter what happens.
These are lofty requests—almost more than we could hope for. Yet since this is indeed God’s will, stated clearly in his Word for not only the first-century Christians but all believers, we can begin to see the depths of what God intends and desires to grant through prayer.
So ask—ask big! Ask for the whole package of wisdom, understanding, and the strength of his glorious power expressed in these verses.
Ask that you will be filled with so much joy that you will continually thank God, who has made us to share in his wonderful and eternal inheritance.
OH, LORD, thank you for providing a way for me to be illuminated with the understanding of your will and for desiring that I fully grasp your purposes in my life! Fill me with spiritual wisdom.
Strengthen me with your glorious power so that I will have all the patience and endurance I need, and fill me with your joy so that I will constantly be offering thanks to you.
Joy is that deep settled confidence that God is in control of every area of my life.
Shalom.