Walk In A Manner Worthy Series

If you are planning on doing any trips this summer, you most likely know the importance of paying attention. When hiking, it's important to stay on the trail to avoid getting lost. While visiting Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, a 19-year-old hiker from Quebec was rescued after being stuck on a ledge of the tallest mountain in the Park. Samuel Frappier was hiking with a friend but got separated along a technical climbing area where there is no trail down the mountain. “I spent all night shivering on a small rock,” Frappier told the CBC. “If I slipped just one foot more, then I would have fallen to my death.” Frappier used his cellphone to call authorities and spent the night on the mountain, where temperatures dropped below freezing. He said he wasn’t injured, but he didn’t have any technical climbing equipment that would help him move up or down. (http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/29/quebec-hiker-samuel-frappier-rescued-from-mountain-ledge-in-colorado/)

For the Colossians, False teachers were luring the Colossians off the path of truth. The Apostle Paul showed them that they had all they needed in the Word of God for their journey, and they were instructed to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, staying true to what they were taught. Departing from the path of truth would not only cause them succumb to error but walk straight into danger.

Every day we face a myriad of choices: What we eat, who we see, what we do and why we do it can seem overwhelming. If we don't start the day and continue on a purposeful path, then we will allow others to dictate our path for us. When we have a godly purpose, that is considered, resolute, and seeking to honor God, He will give us the strength to achieve the most glorious and productive results.

In order to “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”, we must live a life that is 1) Prayerful (Colossians 1:9), 2) Pleasing (Colossians 1:10) 3) Purposeful (Colossians 1:11)

In order to “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”, we must live a life that is a:

1) Prayerful Walk (Colossians 1:9)

Colossians 1:9 [9] 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, (ESV)

As we begin a journey, the path that we take is a path that others have tread before. It is the knowledge of this path and the way others have undertook the journey that we begin to understand what is before us and how to undertake the journey. What Paul had heard refers to the favorable report he had received from Epaphras (v. 8). What is recorded in previous section of Col. 1:3–8, identifies the spiritual condition of the church. Paul expressed great joy when he heard of the Colossians’ salvation. The joy continued from that day, and that, too, became an occasion for prayer. Additionally, Paul saw the dangers in the theological heresy and what it would do to the congregation. The specific nature of the prayer occurs in two complementary verbs found here, “praying” (proseuchomenoi) and “asking” (aitoumenoi). Although the terms are basically synonymous, when used together they stress slightly different aspects of prayer. The first, “praying,” is a general term, the most common for prayer in the Pauline Epistles. It covers the entirety of the prayer life. The second, “asking,” is more specific. It expresses a particular request that God intervene in the lives of the people for whom Paul prayed. Thus, Paul’s general prayer took a specific form. He prayed that they would know the will of God in their lives. (Melick, R. R. (1991). Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (Vol. 32, p. 200). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).

• Much of our prayer time tends to focus on those who are struggling, facing difficulties, fallen into sin or physical distress. Paul, however, knew that the knowledge that others are progressing in the faith should never lead us to stop praying for them. Rather, it should encourage prayer for their greater progress. The enemy may reserve his strongest opposition for those who have the most potential for expanding God’s cause in the world.

In traveling the path, we must be conscious of the dangers and have continual reliance of God through continual prayer. Paul employed the negative words “not ceased to pray for you"... Paul prayed regularly and consistently for them. Such unceasing or recurring prayer (1 Thess. 5:17) demands first of all an attitude of God-consciousness. That does not mean to be constantly in the act of verbal prayer, but to view everything in life in relation to God. When Paul looked around his world, everything he saw prompted him to prayer in some way. When he thought of or heard about one of his beloved churches, it moved him toward communion with God. Thus, Paul’s actual petition is for the discernment of God’s will and the power to perform it (O’Brien, P. T. (1998). Colossians, Philemon (Vol. 44, p. 20). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.)