One of the main jobs of a pastor is to pray for his congregation.
Acts 6:1-4
6:1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." NIV
As your pastor, I take this job very seriously. I pray for each of you by name.
Now, how many of you would like to know what I pray for you?
Alright, I pray Colossians 1:9-14 for you. Here’s my reasoning; Klamath Assembly of God is in many ways just like the Colossian Church when Paul wrote the book of Colossians. We meet together for worship, evangelism, service, discipleship and fellowship. So, I figure that a prayer from Paul’s heart tailored for the Colossian Church would be a good prayer for pastors to pray over their churches.
Let’s read the text: Col 1:9-14
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, 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. 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, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
NIV
Now that’s a great prayer:
In this prayer Paul asks God for 6 specific things: That they…
1. Be filled
2. Live a worthy life
3. Bear fruit
4. Grow
5. Be strengthened
6. Give thanks
Alright, let’s take these 6 specific things that Paul prays and examine them one at a time. Now as we look at each one of these, I want you to be thinking, “How am I personally doing in each of these areas?”
1. Be filled – filled with what? The knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
The Greek word for Knowledge is “gnosis” and in this text the preposition “epi” is added on to it. “epi” means “over”, so the idea that Paul wants to convey to us is that this knowledge that he wants us to have is a complete knowledge – not just a partial knowledge.
And what is it that he wants us to have a complete knowledge of? Gods will!
He wants us to have a complete knowledge of God’s will for our lives.
How many of you have ever struggled with trying to find out what God’s will was for your life or a particular circumstance in your life?
Well, Paul prays that we would find out what God’s will is by using spiritual wisdom and understanding. This language might be confusing to some of you, so lets turn to 1 Corinthians 2:10
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
You want to know what God’s will is? Then you need to read the Bible and pray and God’s Holy Spirit will give you the answer. It’s that simple. The problem is that most people aren’t willing to put in the time and do the work to discover God’s will for their lives.
The reason so many Christian’s lives are messed up is because they did not take the time and do the work to discover God’s will for them.
If you want to avoid life’s hardships, wrong turns and missteps, then I strongly advise you to find out what God’s will is for your life.
2. Live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way. This is real simple and it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to figure it out. Examine your behavior and ask this simple question – Is God pleased with what I’m doing? If the answer is yes, then keep on doing it. If the answer is no – then stop it!
3. Bear fruit in every good work. Are you doing good and kind things for others? Are you participating in the work of the Church? Are you getting positive results? Are you making a contribution to the overall success of your Church? Are you primarily a giver or a taker? In other words, do you have something good to show for your Christian life?
Each year, most schools have a “Back to School Night” in which the kids show off their work to their parents. I’ve seen countless projects, art work, and sample assignments that my kids excitedly showed me during these “Back to School Nights.” How many of you can identify with me here?
What if each year we had a “Back to Church Night” in which we could show off our work to God? Would you be excited to show God what you’ve been doing this year? (Pause)
Paul prays that we would bear fruit in every good work.
4. Grow in the knowledge of God. We get knowledge by learning. We all learn in different ways. Some of us are visual learners, some of us are “hands on” learners, some of us are intuitive learners and others of us are cognitive learners. No matter what kind of learner you are, it is important that each one of us takes charge of his or her own continuing education about God.
One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it. So, if you are teaching a Sunday School class, you will automatically be learning more about God.
How many of you are currently in a Sunday School class?
How many of you have your own independent, in-depth, study courses to gain more knowledge about God?
Alright, the rest of you should be in a Sunday School class then. We provide them for all ages, so there is no excuse for not attending.
I pray that you grow in the knowledge of God, but I also make sure that you have opportunities to make it happen. If you don’t take advantage of the opportunities, then you’re short changing yourself.
5. Be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.
When problems arise in your life are you able to exercise endurance and patience. Are you equipped to go the distance? Do you have the patience to wait on God for the answer or do you try to solve the problem yourself first? When God does give you the answer, are you able to patiently wait for God to make it happen or do you give up and try to solve it yourself?
This is a problem area for me because I have a tendency to take matters into my own hands. So I need to learn to be patient and wait on God.
Finally Paul prays that we would…
6. Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
It is always appropriate to express our gratitude to God for the many blessings he has given us. I encourage you to take time every day to reflect on the many blessings you enjoy and to offer thanks to God.
I suggest that sometime this week you take out a sheet of paper and write down all the blessings you enjoy. After you’ve done that, go over the list with someone close to you. Then offer thanks to God together for His great provision in your life.
