A Ceaseless Prayer (Colossians 1:9-14)

A Ceaseless Prayer

Colossians 1:9-14

Sunday, June 21, 2026 — Land O’ Lakes Bible Church

Introduction

Knowledge is a peculiar thing. For knowledge can be both good and bad. And knowledge can come in a variety of ways as we learn it.

For instance, there is the knowledge that comes through rigorous study. Knowledge attained by reciting material and formulas and paradigms. Hours spent studying such material. Hours spent reading books on a particular matter and the sitting in the lecture hall as another speaks on the matter, scribbling down as many notes as you can to try and obtain what is being said.

But then there is knowledge that comes through what I have always affectionately called, the life of hard knocks. Knowledge that simply comes through experience and observation of life. The knowledge that when hiking trails whether in the woods or mountains of East Tennessee, watch your step. For that which you think is a twig ahead is just as likely that of a copperhead blended in. And it will quickly strike with its bite of venom. You hike enough; you gain this knowledge and awareness along the trails.

Such knowledge as the knowledge in the life of hard knocks is good. Knowledge in being well studied is good. For which would you rather have, a doctor full of knowledge, able to observe symptoms and rightly diagnose? Or a doctor who wrongly diagnosis and treats a disease because while they have great bed side manner, their knowledge is lacking?

Then, there is the danger of a knowledge that puffs up. Knowledge that makes one prideful and arrogant. Knowledge that is pursued and gained for accolades rather than knowledge that is to shape and help us rightly navigate life.

As we consider this peculiarity of knowledge, have you considered how knowledge will affect the Christian life? How knowledge and godliness are intertwined together. That knowledge will shape the way we walk. For we will be filled with the knowledge of God, having spiritual wisdom and understanding and walk in the ways of God or we will be filled with worldly minds and walk the ways of the world that is perishing.

This is where the Apostle Paul takes us this morning as we continue our summer sermon series through the book of Colossians. Let me then invite you to take out your copy of the Bible and open with me to Colossians 1:9-14. If you do not have a copy of the Bible, there is a copy there in your seats. Grab that and open it to page #1168.

As you turn there, let me give a recap of the last two weeks in Colossians. This is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a group of Christians in Colossae. A group of Christians gathered together as one body, as a local church and who Paul refers to as saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.

Saints, not because they are super Christians, but because of who they are in Jesus, being united to him by faith! A faith that Paul, along with his co-author, Timothy, have heard about, along with their love for all the saints. And they begin this letter by giving thanks to God for these Colossians and how not only they have heard the gospel, but how the gospel has borne fruit and increased among them. Fruit that is evident and visible for all to see.

A thanksgiving that is given, even as the Church of Colossae needs to be informed of some matters that are a threat to their faith. Matters that Paul will soon begin to address. But first he prays for them. First with this thanksgiving, and then with a prayer of intercession, which is where we pick back up this morning. Let us then hear this word of the LORD from Colossians 1:9-14. Read Colossians 1:9-14…

Main Idea: If we are to walk in a worthy manner of our God, we must be filled with the knowledge of his will as found in the Scriptures.

1. The Prayer: To Be Filled (1:9)

2. The Purpose: A Worthy Walk (1:10-12)

a. A Walk that Bears Fruit and Grows

b. A Walk that is Being Strengthened

c. A Walk that is Giving Thanks

3. The Grounding: A Glorious Redemption (1:13-14)

I. The Prayer: To Be Filled (1:9)

Here in Colossians 1:9-14, we have one long, run-on sentence in the original language of the Greek. A sentence filled with participles, for you grammar nerds. But there is only one true verb in this run-on sentence. And that is the main argument, the main exhortation found here in this prayer by Paul. An exhortation we read there in verse 9…

Paul, along with Timothy, are praying that God would fill the minds of these Colossians with such knowledge. For though they have heard the gospel and believed the gospel and even had gospel fruit being borne in them, there is still a need for growth! And that need is why Paul moves from his prayer of thanksgiving there in Colossians 1:3-8, to this prayer of intercession. Where he is pleading with God to work and act on their behalf to bear even more fruit to sustain them in the faith that has begun in them.

The false teachers that have crept into the Church of Colossae are teachings that threaten to take the minds of the Colossian saints captive. We see Paul warn of this down in Colossians 2:8-10 where we read:

Colossians 2:8–10 (ESV):

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

And so, Paul, along with Timothy, pray here first for the Colossians to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God with all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that they may not be taken captive by such deception, such false teaching.

They then, make this prayer known to the Colossians, so that they may encourage them how they have been being prayed for, but also begin to prepare them to humbly receive the things of this letter, correcting and teaching them of the things of God and what his will is for those who are his people in Christ!

As we see in the context of this letter, the will of God that Paul is speaking of here is not some hidden and mysterious will that Christians are left to discern of on their own.

I fear too often, that when we hear the will of God today, we are too quickly given to thinking that this will is talking about every specific matter of our lives. Who we are to marry, where we are to live, what we are to do with our lives.

Don’t get me wrong, these are important questions to ask. However, they are meaningless if we are asking them outside of first understanding the priority of God’s will for our lives. Discerning the will of God is not foremost these things of our individual lives. The will of God primarily is referring to our obedience to God and all that has been instructed to us.

The Catechisms teach us this[1].

Q. 44 What is the duty which God requires of man?

A. The duty which God requires of man, is obedience to His revealed will.

This is precisely what we read in our Scripture Reading earlier in the service from Micah 6. Look again over at that passage there in your Worship Guide. For there, God points to the question asked, with what shall we come before the LORD and bow ourselves before him? There is wonder if it is by coming with sacrificial offerings, but what is it that the LORD says he has told them? He has told them what is good and what he requires, and this is what he says they should do!

Beloved, the will of God is primarily the instructions of the LORD given to his covenant people. That they are to hear and obey. For this is why Christ, the one whom they crucified, was dead and buried on account of our sins, taught following his resurrection and before his ascension to be seated next to the Father in glory, stated this:

Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV)

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It is this will of God that Paul is praying for the Colossian saints to be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding. A will then that will shape the way in which they walk in a worthy manner of their Lord and Redeemer!

Beloved, it is then this same knowledge of God’s will that I pray that we are filled with. Knowledge of God’s will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we may rightly know and understand what it is that the Lord requires of us as his people. Wisdom to live it out in the practical day to day moments and to not be so easily deceived by various false teachings that have arisen already and will continue to arise.

May God then bless us as we sit under his word week in and week out. May the word of the LORD fill us with this knowledge and then give us spiritual wisdom and understanding to apply it to our individual situations. May he fill us with the knowledge of his will through our regular reading of the Bible.

That is point #1, the prayer.

II. The Purpose: A Worthy Walk (1:10-12)

Look there again at verse 10…

Paul’s prayer for the Colossians to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding is for the sake of them walking in a manner worthy of the Lord so that they may be fully pleasing to Him!

The knowledge of God’s will is to shape their daily walk as they follow Christ! For what they hear, they are to do. Lest they be hearers only of God’s word and not doers, the warning given in the Letter of James.

What is this worthy walk then? It is a walk defined by four participles that we will take in turn.

A. A Walk worthy of the LORD Bears Fruit and Grows (1:10b)

First, we see two participles paired together in the remainder of verse 10:

Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

The language of bearing fruit is not new. We saw Paul give thanks to God back in verse 6 for how the gospel was bearing fruit, both in the whole world and in the Colossians.

And so, Paul returns to this in his prayer of intercession. This time in praying for them to bear increasing fruit in their works. Works not to earn their salvation, but to borrow from Ephesians 2:10, the good works prepared beforehand for them, the good works they are to walk in, in light of their union with Christ!

Some of these good works that they are to walk in are mentioned throughout the letter. For they are to walk in the walk of faith in holding fast to Christ. They are to have the good work of putting off the things of old, that of the flesh, while putting on the new in Christ! They are to bear the fruit of holiness and compassionate hearts and kindness and humility and meekness and patience. To bearing fruit in bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

But how will they bear such fruit in this? By their growing in the knowledge of God. It is the knowledge of God that will help them to bear such fruit. For unless they grow in understanding their God and what it is they are called to, they will never bear such fruit!

It is kind of like a husband with his wife. The more he learns of her, the more he knows of her, his love and care for her should grow. How much more then should this be true of us with our God?

May then the hearing of this call to walk in a manner worthy of the LORD by bearing fruit and increasing (growing) in the knowledge of our God give us humble and teachable hearts so that we may grow in such knowledge and it transform how we live by helping us to continue to bear good fruit that is pleasing to our God!

B. A Walk Worthy of the LORD is Dependent on the LORD’s Strength (1:11)

Increasing in the knowledge of God doesn’t just help us bear good fruit, it also strengthens us in this endeavor. Look there at verse 11…

At the University of Tennessee, there is a tradition before every ball game to recite the game maxims. These maxims were started by General Robert Neyland from his days as Head Football coach for the Volunteers. And one of those maxims, maxim #3:

If at first the game or the breaks go against you, don’t let up_put on more steam

But how are we to put on more steam when the hardships and sufferings of the Christian life feel unbearable? How are we to put on more steam when we feel like the pressure of the drip, drip, drip, that’ll never stop?

It is only by the power of God that we can be strengthened with all endurance and patience. A power that Paul prays to be at work strengthening these Colossian believers.

For Paul understands the suffering of this world is long and heavy. But he knows that God is able to strengthen his people to bear up under such weightiness with all endurance and patience, and to this end he prays for these saints!

Beloved, the way to endure in a worthy walk that is fully pleasing to the Lord is not by mustering up your own strength. It is humbly crying out to the Lord to strengthen you according to what he has called you to in Christ!

For all who think the Christian life is lived out according to our own strength and wisdom are foolish and arrogant. We cannot do this on our own! We need to be strengthened by the power of the Lord for these things, dependent upon him! So let us cry out this same prayer that Paul makes for the Colossians in our daily lives, for ourselves and one another! For it is here, when we are strengthened by the Lord that not only can we endure, but have patience with joy. Joy that comes from the Lord as we rest in Him!

C. A Walk Worthy of the LORD is Full of Thanksgiving to God (1:12)

Thirdly, to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord is to give thanks to God! Verse 12…

We are to give thanks to our Heavenly Father, because it is he who has qualified us to share in our inheritance.

It was nothing of our efforts, of our good works, of our character that qualified us to the glorious inheritance laid up for us in heaven. It was the goodness and kindness of God that qualified us in Christ!

III. The Grounding: A Glorious Redemption (1:13-14)

We see precisely how we have been qualified for such a glorious inheritance in verses 13-14…

Paul’s prayer is not rooted in living a life in a manner of the Lord in order to earn our redemption, our inheritance. It is in light of the inheritance we have because of our union with Christ that has come through our faith in Christ!

[1] TBC #44. The Baptist Confession of Faith & The Baptist Catechism. (Broken Wharfe, 2025) 108. Also see Q.39 of the WSC and Q. 4 of HC.