Untitled Sermon

Introduction

Paul prayed — Since the time he had heard these folks had come to know Christ through the witness of Epaphras, Paul had been lifting them up in prayer. It is something to note the prayer life of Paul and the other Apostles. They devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word

Acts 6:4 NASB95

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

We need to be reminded of this sometimes…a man or woman is never bigger than his or her prayer life. If we want our life to be extraordinary…something otherworldly and inexplicable from the outside looking in…we must be a people of prayer.

God does not force Himself into our life…He wants for us to pray and ask Him in…that is true in salvation and so often true in the rest of our life as well. While God is sovereign and can do anything He desires…there are things He will not do until we pray.

Paul wanted something extraordinary for this church. He wanted a life for them that only God could accomplish…He is going to give us a picture of this life in the following verses…but he knew the only way it would ever happen is prayer.

Paul’s Prayer

Knowledge of His Will — Paul was not praying for what we often think of when talking of God’s will. This was not that they would know some particular course of action. Paul was praying that they would have a deeper understanding of their faith in Christ so that they might obey Christ more perfectly, bear greater fruit of the Spirit and have insight into heresy when it appeared on the scene of their life and church.

We are always growing in our faith…we are always understanding it better. We should pray this prayer often for ourselves and everyone else around us!

Through Spiritual wisdom and understanding — The knowledge Paul prayed for would be given to them through God’s power…It would be a spiritual thing. This is not book knowledge...God would teach them as they meditated on Christ and His teachings they had been given…The Spirit would instruct them in their time in the Word (OT), during sermons, time with other believers and in worship.

Live Worthy…Bearing Fruit…Growing in the knowledge of God — With this new and deeper understanding of their faith they would have a greater responsibility to obedience and service to Christ and be empowered to do so.

It would result in the bearing of spiritual fruit in their life…their character would become more and more like that of Christ…this would be seen through how they act. And they would continue to be given more and more knowledge as they responded to the knowledge they were given and obeyed Christ.

Bearing Fruit

God does not give us knowledge for the sake of knowledge…He reveals Himself to us and gives us greater understanding of Himself so that we might be more like Him…and in the process…act more like Him…be a part of what He is doing in the world around us to glorify Him.

Strengthened with all power — Paul is reiterating his point…holiness, obedience and a change in character seen in the fruit of the Spirit were not something one could accomplish in his or herself. This would be accomplished through divine power at work in them. God’s power would be adequate for all of their needs.

God’s glorious might — would be at work in and through them…for their part…they were to pray and abide in Christ. They were to enjoy the answer to Paul’s prayer and cooperate with the work and power of the Spirit in them.

Endurance, patience and joy — The strength of the Lord would bring these three qualities to the believers in Colossi.

Endurance would sustain them against the assaults of the enemy in battle…this would help them stand against the heretics.

Patience — Fruit of the Spirit which would give them the steadfastness to press on amidst the assaults to their faith.

Joy — The assured good in their heart which rose above circumstances to live in the present struggle well.

Giving Thanks — In the midst of the Father’s gifts, power and sustaining grace…the right response would be thanksgiving…to the one who qualifies us to the inheritance to come.

Inheritance in the Kingdom of Light — Heaven…We need to be more heavenly minded!

Rescued — We need to be constantly reminiscent of what we have been saved from! We have been redeemed and forgiven of our sins.

God’s glorious might — would be at work in and through them…for their part…they were to pray and abide in Christ. They were to enjoy the answer to Paul’s prayer and cooperate with the work and power of the Spirit in them.

Conclusion of section —

All of this is

Summation

God wants you to live in a power above your own. He wants you to live an extraordinary kind of life. One of the reasons He desires this is because He is quite aware of the supernatural extraordinary power of the enemy at work against us.

God knows, left to ourselves we cannot do very much good…and in the face of the opposition against us…can’t keep from much wrong.

Know God — Knowing God better is an offer made to each one of us. We can have a deeper understanding of the truths of our faith and a more intimate relationship with our God if we want it.

Paul was aware of God’s heart on the matter and prayed…are we praying with the same fervor? Are we praying with the same desperation? Are we praying with the same tenacity and persistence? Prayer changes things.