Title: Paul's Prayer/Colossians 1:9-12
Contents Essay on the Book of Colossians (Rev. Sang-Kyun Han, who is in charge of the 2nd lecture missions)
Title: Paul's Prayer
Text Colossians 1:9-12
In this way we also, from the day we heard it, have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may fill your spiritual wisdom and understanding with the knowledge of the will of God (verse 9).
From here, Paul's intercessory prayer for the Colossians continues. The situation of the church in Colossae, which Paul heard through Epaphra, was a situation where he could give thanks, that is, he realized God's grace and lived a fruitful life, but there must have been some uneasiness will be It may also have been geographically related to the Colossae region. The surroundings are always full of foreign gods, and there must have been many factors that tempt Christians. Where people gather, there is always danger.
Today, Paul is praying for those Colossians.
We want to know what kind of prayer we are praying and the voice of that prayer to be heard by us who are living in this age.
1. Help me to know the will of God with wisdom and judgment
“Spiritual wisdom and understanding” (verse 9) is translated as “all wisdom and judgment from the Holy Spirit.” Clearly, “wisdom and understanding” are gifts of the Holy Spirit.
We are always living a life of choice. Would you like to go to worship tonight as well? not? It's the weekend. Shall we go to the mountains and fields? Shall we go to church and worship?
would this be the only one? Deciding on the course of the university, the place of moving, the church,
The Reformer Luther said, “We live a life where we choose step by step on a small path with a thousand cliffs on both sides.” If we make the wrong choice, we're bound to fall off a cliff. That's why decision and choice are so important.
However, Paul does not end here, but this wisdom and understanding is what he hopes for “to fully understand the will of God” (“The Common Translation of the Bible”).
Isn't the wisdom and understanding of knowing God's will the true wisdom and understanding?
2. We are praying for you to live the life the Lord wants.
This is also to say that Christian knowledge is not aimed at knowledge itself, but rather toward religious conduct.
What is living worthy of the Lord?
First, it is to please God in all things.
Second, to bring forth fruit in every good work.
The phrase ‘to bear fruit’ is in the present tense, which means that the life of a believer must be a life that bears fruit. Because yesterday bore fruit, that doesn't mean that you can't do it today. Yesterday's life, today's life, and tomorrow's life must be a life that bears fruit. ‘Bearing fruit in good works’ is the embodiment and practice of ‘doing worthy of the Lord’ along with ‘pleasing the Lord’.
Third, it means knowing God.
‘Knowing God’ and ‘knowing God’s will’ may have the same meaning, but the former implies deeper spiritual growth than the latter. The latter is to know the will of God, but to know means spiritual union. Not intellectual knowledge, but spiritual union.
Often when I say that I want to know you, I mean intimate fellowship.
May you always please the Lord, do every good deed, bear fruit, and come to know God better
3. We pray that we will be strengthened by the power of God.
May you be strengthened with all the power that comes from the power of God's glory, and may endure to the end with joy (verse 11 "The New Standard Version of the Bible")
Paul's prayers are directed to the Colossians so that they can experience the power of God beyond the knowledge of God, a life worthy of the Lord, and a fruitful life. The ‘power of glory’ is the power that raised Jesus from the grave with God’s power from a transcendent realm that human intellect cannot trace, and it is the power to rejoice in tribulation.
They hope that they will become strong children, not weak children, and become children of God who can handle them well. Only then can we overcome trials and difficulties with joy.
The Greek word for 'endurance', 'Hipomonen', in “He leads with joy to all endurance and long-suffering”, means to go forward at the risk of suffering toward a set goal. word used. In our language, it corresponds to the rite of ceremonial blessing (克己復禮). In the end, enduring means resisting temptation and resistance and running silently toward one goal. Long-suffering also refers to an indomitable fighting spirit that pushes forward without being discouraged even when under heavy load or when faced with failure. Obviously, patience and long-suffering are far from pleasure. Nevertheless, to bear them with joy is due to the 'power of glory', that is, the power of God.
4. I am praying that I will become a saint who gives thanks to God (verse 12).
“Worthy to acquire a part of the inheritance of the saints” - the ‘corporation’ is a legacy. If we say that the inheritance of the Israelites when they entered Canaan is a fleshly inheritance, the portion that Christians will receive in the future is a ‘spiritual inheritance’.
Because we have such a heavenly hope, we find meaning to move forward even though our lives today are hard and difficult. Even more so because it is God's promise.
So Paul prays:
I hope that I will be able to give thanks to my Father with a happy heart (Verses 11-12 「Revision of the Joint Translation of the Bible」)