Colossae was a Greek city during the times of the Apostle Paul. The Bible doesn’t tell us if Paul had actually visited the city of Colossae prior to writing the letter to them, which we know as the book of Colossians in the New Testament. However, in the letter to the church at Colossae, Paul expresses to them how he has heard of their faith in Jesus Christ through Epaphras, who had come to visit Paul while he was a prisoner at Rome.
During his writing of the letter, Paul tells the readers how he prays for the new believers in Jesus Christ at Colossae, and we read in Colossians 1: 9-14 he writes, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
I was reading this passage a couple of weeks ago, and as I read these particular verses I thought to myself, “Now, that’s a GOOD prayer to pray for myself and my fellow believers in Jesus Christ!” And so, I’ve taken the words from what Paul wrote and made it personal and have prayed it myself like; “God, I pray that I will be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that I may walk in a manner worthy of Your name, pleasing You in all that I do, bearing fruit and increasing in the knowledge of You. I pray that I will be strengthened with Your power…”
Just in reading over these verses again and again, I see how that’s what I want with my own life! To be FILLED with the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of GOD’s will and desire for my life! Seeking to PLEASE HIM in EVERYTHING I do, and being fruitful in the work God does in my life – all the while increasing in my knowledge of Him. And note how Paul prays that they would be strengthened with HIS MIGHT – the power of God, to be able to endure and have patience in waiting for God to accomplish in their lives what HE wants to do.
As we read the Bible, there are many passages like this one that should inspire our own prayers to Almighty God, and that should lead us and guide us in how to pray for our own selves as well as our fellow believers in Jesus Christ. And lastly, Paul reminds us to GIVE THANKS to God in “whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins…”