COLOSSIANS 1:1-142006 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Colossians 1:1-14

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2006.

Wonderful time together as we saw the book of joy. But now as we go into the book of Colossians, it's a little bit different of a book. Now, Paul wrote this letter to a church in the city of Colossae about 60 A.D. It was about the same time that he wrote the letter to the Philippians. In fact, he was in prison at Rome at the time and he wrote four specific letters that we know of. The letters are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and the book of Colossians.

as well as Philemon. And these are known as the prison epistles. And Colossians is one of those that was written from prison. And we saw over and over again, Paul with such great joy, encouraging the church at Philippi in the book of Philippians. And now as he turns his attention to Colossae,

He's dealing with something a little bit more urgent and a little bit more difficult. He's dealing with some false teaching and some heresy that is taking place there. And so he's writing to refute those things and teach the truth of the gospel about Jesus Christ. The city of Colossae was about 100 miles east of

of the city of Ephesus. Ephesus was right on the coast, but Colossae was inland from the coast. And it used to be, at the time of Paul's writing, it was kind of on the decline because it had been prior on a major trade route and much commerce and things would go through the city. And yet there was another route at the time. And so Colossae was kind of on the decline in that respect. But there was a work going on spiritually that God was doing.

Now, the Apostle Paul personally had not been to Colossae and there's no records that he ever did go. But it seems that there's a man named Epaphras who was involved in the work there. And he's the one who comes to Paul with the news of the heresy and the teaching that is going on there in the church. But he's not the one who comes to Paul.

It is believed that he, Epaphras, is the one who started the work there and he brought news of it to Paul. So even though Paul never went there, he was informed about it from this faithful minister named Epaphras.

The book of Colossians is closely related to the book also to Philemon, which is a couple books away. We'll get to that in a few months. But Philemon lived in Colossae and he had a slave that ran away. The slave's name was Onesimus.

Onesimus, as he runs away, he runs across the Apostle Paul there in prison and he gets saved. He starts serving along Paul. And so Paul sends Onesimus back to his master, along with another man named Tychicus. And they bring this letter as well as the letter to Philemon at the time that Onesimus comes back.

Now, as I said, this letter was written to refute false teaching, and it was a specific type of false teaching. It was a mixture of two things, a multitude of things, really, but two predominant things. The first was Judaism. Now, Judaism was the old system, the sacrifices and the covenants and the rituals and the religious things. And and that's part of what was being taught there, that you had to fulfill these things and keep these laws and

rules and regulations in order to have right relationship with God. But the second part of this heresy, this false teaching that was going on is called Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a whole teaching and topic in itself, but basically it was intellectual knowledge and spiritual mysteries that were being taught. And it was taught that you could become perfect and arise to different levels of perfection

through wisdom and through this secret knowledge that only this select few had. And so between the two of these Judaism and rules and regulations and this intellectual knowledge and mysteries, there was great confusion and problems as far as what was being taught. Now,

Now, Paul's approach to refute this is very simple. He doesn't confuse us by going all over the different points of the false teaching, showing where they're wrong. He barely addresses it at all. He touches on it a little bit, and that's why we know what's going on. But

He simply goes to great detail to teach us the truth about Jesus Christ, who he is, what he's done for us. Really, this book is all about Jesus Christ, the finished work that he accomplished for us. And so I look forward to spending the next few weeks with you looking at this book and learning more about Jesus Christ, that it may change our life. This book can easily be broken down into two sections.

Just like the book of Ephesians, we studied a little bit ago. The first section is the section of doctrine where Paul deals with all the different doctrines and teachings that we need to know about Jesus Christ. And that's chapters one and two of the book of Colossians. But then chapters three and four, Paul takes the next step and says, here's.

Who Jesus is and what he's done. And now here's how that should change your life. Here's how that should impact the way that you live. And so he takes the doctrine and applies it to our life and encourages us in practical ways to live those things out. This morning, as we are looking at the first part of chapter one, it's Paul's opening remarks to the Colossians. And we don't get into the doctrines just yet. But instead, what we see is Paul's heart saying,

as he prays for the church of Colossae. And that's what we'll be looking at this morning is Paul's prayer and the heart behind it that we might learn to pray the same way. Paul's prayer, there's five things we'll be looking at and learning from him this morning. Number one, when to pray.

Number two, who to pray to. Number three, who to pray for. Number four, the reason to pray. And number five, what to pray. So let's get started here. Verses one and two says this.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy, our brother to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae. Grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul begins with his usual greeting, introducing himself and those who are with him. I always think it's interesting that, you know, in letter writing today, we put our name at the end. And so you don't know who it is unless you, you know, cheat and skip to the end. But you have to read all the way through to find out who wrote it. But Paul says right away here, I want you to know who I am, who's with me and what God is doing.

Now, it's interesting because Paul always makes it clear that he is an apostle as he's writing his letters. He says, you know, hey, I'm an apostle, but he always makes it clear that it's not because he says so or because that's what he chose to be.

but that it's God's will for him to be an apostle. And it was God's command for him to be an apostle. And as he opens it the different ways throughout his letters, he makes it clear that this is of God. This is something that God has done, not that I have done. He's not boasting, but instead simply stating that he is being obedient to God and that God had given him this role.

To be an apostle, the word literally means to be sent. And the apostles were used by God, sent by God to establish churches and to be an authority within the body to give structure, to give guidance, to give leadership and to keep the doctrine pure, to keep from these false doctrines and heresies that would come about.

Now, I think for you and I, as we look at this, it's just as important for us to be able to make a statement like the Apostle Paul, that we are who we are and we're doing what we're doing by the will of God, because God has a perfect plan for your life. He has good works laid out before you that you may walk in them. He has gifts that he has given to you that he calls you to use.

He has roles for you to fulfill in his kingdom and for his purposes. This morning, I begin with this question or this challenge. Do you know God's will for your life? Are you able, like the Apostle Paul, to make this statement that I am in this place doing this because God said so, because it's God's will for me? He really does have a perfect plan for your life.

It's not just, you know, try to do good things and in the end it'll all work out. But he has specific works, specific roles, specific people for you to minister to, specific jobs for you to perform, specific family for you to raise and to influence and so on and so forth. There's things in your life that God desires to lead you into as part of his perfect plan. He desires to show you his will and lead you through those things.

Now, in talking about the will of God, you need to understand God will never give you the whole picture.

But he will give you today what you need today. He'll give you the direction that you need to go, that he wants you to go, to be obedient to his will. He's not going to show you everything from beginning to end, and many times we wait for that. But I would encourage you, be obedient to the will of God in what he shows you today. And live those things, and be confident in those things, and boldly make the statement that I'm doing this by the will of God. And if you don't know,

And spend time with the Lord. Find out his will for your life so that you can make that statement just like the Apostle Paul. Because God has a purpose, a specific plan and will for your life.

Well, he makes that clear and then he goes on to say to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ. And this is important to touch on because the biblical definition of the word saint is different than we typically think about when we hear that word. Saints literally means one who is set apart.

It's the word that's usually translated holy throughout the New Testament. And God has called us to be holy and to be set apart. But it's not referring to a specific elite few in the Christian church. The word saint refers to every believer in Jesus Christ, because by believing in him, we are a new creation. Second Corinthians 517 tells us.

His blood has washed us. He has changed us and he has set us apart for his purposes. Jesus shared this with his disciples in John chapter 15, verse 19. He tells them, if you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world. Therefore, the world hates you. Jesus says the reason why there's contention and problems between you and everybody else is

It's because you're not of the world anymore. You've been set apart. If you were of the world, if you weren't set apart, there wouldn't be any conflict. You would fit in just like everybody else. But there's persecution. There's a difference. And people know that there's a difference. Because even though you were of the world, I called you out of the world. I chose you out of the world. And I've set you apart. And that is why the world hates you.

If you have relationship with Jesus Christ, know this. You are set apart unto God. You are holy. It's not something you have to try to be. It's something you are because of what God has done for you. He has set you apart.

You have right relationship with God by believing in Jesus Christ. And I know that you don't deserve it. And I know that that's often what keeps us back is I don't deserve right relationship with God or to be called a saint. None of us do. But that's why it's God's grace and his mercy that we hold on to and grasp on to. You're a saint. I'm a saint. I don't want you to call me Saint Jerry, but you're a saint and I'm a saint. We're set apart unto God.

It's not the elite few, but it's every believer in Jesus Christ. It's you. You're special to God. He set you apart and you have right relationship with him. And so he says, grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God, our father. Paul uses this in all of his letters as well. Always in this order, grace to you and peace. And it's because when we understand the grace of God, we

is when we finally can have peace. As we understand His grace and we learn that He died for us and that He set us apart and that He will complete the work that He began in us and that He has an incorruptible inheritance reserved for us, we can experience peace because it's all about Him. His grace, His giving of undeserved favor and kindness, the things that we don't deserve, He gives to us

And so we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ because of what he's done, because it's all about him. This morning, I encourage you, if you do not have peace, get into right relationship with God. Believe in Jesus Christ. Believe in what he did for you on the cross. You will experience the peace of God that passes all understanding when you experience the grace of God, when you receive the gifts that he gives to you. Verse three this morning says this.

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Here we learn the first thing about prayer from the Apostle Paul, and that is when to pray. When are we to pray? Paul says, I'm praying always for you.

We're always praying for you. Now, prayer is one of those areas that we all know that we need to work on. You know, it's been said that there's no quicker way to convict someone than to ask them about their prayer life. And immediately the head drops down, you know, your feet just kind of shuffle a little bit. Everybody knows I don't pray like I should. I don't spend as much time with God. And it's kind of something that the enemy uses to condemn us.

a lot and I don't want to do that this morning that's not what this is about but Paul gives us himself as an example and it's good to have examples like Paul to remind us and encourage us and keep us praying keep on praying and pray always pray without ceasing and as I've been preparing for this and studying this and sharing this I know that this is an area that God wants to continue to work in my heart as well

That I would continue to pray for you as the body of Christ and for those that God puts upon my heart and God brings into my life. It's important for us. We need to be in prayer. It's our fellowship and communion with God. But we need to be praying always. Now, Jesus emphasized the importance of praying always in Luke chapter 11. He talked to us about prayer.

The need for persistence in our prayer. In verse 1 of Luke chapter 11, the disciples, they come up to Jesus and they ask him to teach them to pray. They say, John taught his disciples to pray. Teach us to pray. And then in verses 2 through 4, Jesus goes on and he gives the model prayer, what's often known as the Lord's Prayer. You're very familiar with that, I'm sure. But then after he teaches them to pray, he gives them this prayer.

In verses 5 through 8 of Luke chapter 11, Jesus gives a parable to teach them about prayer. And he gives this parable of a man who's asking for bread at midnight. Here's the basic situation. I'll paraphrase it for you.

There's a man who has company come unexpectedly late at night and he wants to provide for them and give them some food to eat. But he has nothing. He's all out of food. And so he goes to his neighbor and he knocks on the door and he says, neighbor, I have some unexpected company that came and they need some bread. And so can you give me some bread that I may bless the company that has come to me?

Well, the man inside the house responds and says, hey, I'm already in bed and the kids are tucked in and I'm not going to get up and give you bread. Everything's all locked and it's too late. It's about midnight. But the man who had company, he knocks again and says, no, please, I need some food to take to my company. And it was important to be a good host in those days as it is today. And so he keeps knocking and knocking.

Keeps knocking and keeps knocking and he continues to ask the man who continued to say no. But finally, at the end, the man gets up and he

Gives him the bread that he wants so that he can go and provide for his company. And in verse 8, Jesus shares the point in the parable of the parable. I mean, in verse 8 of Luke 11, it says, I say to you, though he will not rise to give him or give to him because he is his friend. Yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. The fact that he was his friend, that wasn't enough to get him out of bed.

And to get him to give him the bread. But the fact of his persistence is continuing to knock and ask, cause the man to give him all that he needed. And so Jesus says, here's the point in verse 9 of Luke 11. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks, receives. And he who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened.

That was an interesting study a couple of weeks ago at the inductive Bible study class, because we looked at this portion and we looked at how to understand a little bit from the Greek language, the tenses and what it means. And we discovered, as it's often been taught, that when it says to ask God.

It literally could be translated to ask and keep on asking. It's something to continue and not just do one time to seek and keep on seeking and to knock and keep on knocking. And so Jesus is using this parable and he tells them, listen, I want you to keep on asking and keep on knocking and keep on seeking. And that is how to pray. That is what you want to be doing in your prayer life. Not just praying this prayer, but continually asking.

Praying always to the Lord. Jesus says, be persistent in prayer. Pray always. The second thing that we learn about the Apostle Paul's prayer is also found in this verse, and that is who to pray to. Who is it that we are to pray to? He says, praying always to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this may be a simple point, I understand, but it's still important.

We need to know who we're praying to. We're praying to God the Father. We're not called to pray to saints or to anyone else. God has given us access to come before Him and pray to Him personally. He calls each and every one of us. He invites us in to bring our cares and our petitions, our weights and our burdens and lay them at His feet.

We're not to pray to God in just kind of a generic sense. Like I know there's some type of all powerful force out there somewhere and not know much about him. But we pray to the God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray to the to the one who created the universe. But more than that, we pray to the God of John 316.

The God who so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. We pray to the God who loves us so much that he sent his very son to die on our behalf because of his great love for us. We pray to the God who loves us so dearly.

In John chapter 16, verses 26 and 27, Jesus is talking to his disciples and he shares with them, listen guys, I'm going to go away and I'm going to die and I'm going to be ascended to the Father, but it's okay because I'm going to send the Holy Spirit and there's going to be a new work that takes place. And he tells them in verse 26, in that day you will ask in my name. But notice he says, I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you.

For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. Jesus says, listen, I'm not saying that I'm going to pray to God for you and that you have to come in that way. But because of what I'm about to do, because of Jesus's work on the cross, because of his blood and his forgiveness, because believing in him is accounted to us for righteousness. We go straight to the Father.

We have an audience with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He humbles himself and invites us to pray to him and to share with him. God desires relationship with you. So pray to him. Spend time with him. Talk to him. Casting your cares upon him. Share with him your hopes and your dreams, your hurts and your pains. Because relationship is so important to God that he sent his son to die in your place.

So we pray always. We pray to the God, the father of Jesus Christ. Number three, what or who do we pray for? Who is it that we're to pray for? Paul here is specifically praying for the Colossians, which I think is significant since he had never been to Colossae. He didn't start the church there himself.

But he says, I'm always praying for you guys. I've been praying for you guys for a long time and I'm always praying for you guys. For whatever reason, God had placed this church on his heart. He placed the Colossians on Paul's heart. And so Paul is praying for them. And we learn from Paul then that we are to pray for whomever God puts upon our hearts.

You know, we have such a great privilege in this body to be a part of a body which God has used to send out so many missionaries and start different works. You might not be able to go

But you are able to pray. You might not even know the people, but you can still pray for them. You can pray for whomever God puts upon your heart. Now, it's been great. The last couple of weeks we had, we lied down for a week and we got to hear all the things that God has been doing up in Watsonville. We had David Downs down from Italy and we heard about the things that God is doing in Italy. And now this week is the Pastors' Wives Conference. And so we have Gene Hallman and Cindy DeVille and

Annabelle should be coming down as well. And I know that there's a great work going on and we hear from them and we get excited about all the things that God is doing. And we don't know that we don't know the people in Idaho. We don't know the people in Watsonville or in Italy, but we can pray for them. We don't have to go there. We don't have to be there. But God puts those places upon our hearts and we can pray and we can be a part of the work that God is doing there. Who are we to pray for?

Whoever God puts upon our hearts. You know, on Wednesdays we set aside a part of our service to pray for our missionaries and those that God has sent out and really brought us together as family with. But I would encourage you, when are we to pray? Always.

Don't let it just be Wednesday nights that you pray for those that God has sent out from here and those that God has placed upon your hearts. Pray for them always. Pray for your children and your families. Pray for the body here. Pray for the Spanish service that started this morning. Pray for the pastors and the leaders and whoever else that God puts upon your heart.

And especially for those of you who God has given authority within the body of Christ, for those of you who God is using to disciple others and minister to others, for those of you who God is using to raise up believers in Jesus Christ, be in prayer for those that God is using you to minister to. Samuel, who was a prophet to the nation of Israel.

He was really the last prophet that was leading the entire nation. And it was during Samuel's ministry that the nation decided we don't want to be led by prophets and by God in that way anymore. Now we want to be led by kings, just like all the other nations. And so they asked God for a king and God gives them a king. But then they realized it wasn't the best thing to do. And so they come to Samuel and they said, hey, we have this king, but please don't stop praying for us.

And Samuel, who's ministering to the people, who God had given him as a prophet to the nation, he says, I want to encourage you guys who are teaching others, those who are ministering to others, which we all should be on some level, ministering and discipling others. Be in prayer. Don't cease to pray. Pray always.

For those that God has given to you to minister to and to teach the good and right way. So we've seen when to pray, who to pray to, who to pray for. The fourth thing is,

is the reason to pray. And we find that in verses 4 and 5. Let's read it together. It says, Now, when I say that, by that phrase, reason to pray, what I mean is, what is it that should cause us to pray?

Now, I'm sure that you know what normally causes us to pray. Problems, pain, lack of finances or situations, healings that need to take place or whatever else may cause pain and problems within our lives.

Sometimes it's the only time we pray, you know, when there's that bill that's due and we're not sure how it's going to get paid or when there's someone close to us that's sick or when you're late for work and there's all kinds of traffic on the 91. That's when we pray. But Paul says, here's what should cause you to pray. What caused him to pray for the Colossians? You know, he doesn't say, well, man, you guys are going through some really tough times.

It's really a bummer that, man, all these things and persecution that you're going through. This is a really tough heresy that you're dealing with. So I've really been praying for you, man, because I know you got lots of problems. No, he looks and what causes him to pray is the fact that they're doing well. Paul says, I'm praying for you because God is working all these things in your life.

It says, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and for your love for all the saints and because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. I'm praying for you. I'm praying always for you because of these wonderful things that God is doing.

Now, what happens very often with us is that we pray for people and we pray for situations when things look bad. But then when they get better, it just kind of fades away. It becomes less important to us and there's not that urgency any longer. And so it begins to fade out of our times of prayer.

But we need to be praying for people, you know, even if they're doing very well, even if things are going great, be praying for people. As I shared, you know, we've been able to hear from Wee Lai and David Downs and Gene and Cindy and Annabelle and Tom Reese on E3 Missions and all those that God has just sent out and been doing a work. And we hear great things about what God is doing.

And it should cause us to be praying. It should cause us to commit to be in prayer for the work that God is doing. Paul's prayer was caused specifically by three things. Faith, love and hope. He says, first, your faith in Christ Jesus. Now, faith is belief or conviction of the truth. And so Paul is saying, listen, guys, I'm praying for you because you believe faith.

And I heard that you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that he's the savior of the world. And that's wonderful. That is great. And so I'm praying for you, not just because of your faith, though, but also your love for all the saints. Now, Jesus said that love would be the chief characteristic of his disciples. In John 13, 35, he says, by this, all will know you are my disciples. If you have love for one another.

How is the world going to know that you are my disciples? By your love. He had just finished telling them, hey, just as I have loved you, this is my command. Love one another. Just like I loved you. Love one another. And so Paul says, listen, we heard that you're loving just like Jesus does. We heard that you're loving each other. You're growing in that and you have this this wonderful love for the saints. It's the mark of Christians.

We heard that. That's great. And so we're praying for you because you love to say Jesus did. And finally, the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.

Now, hope in the Bible does not carry the uncertainty the way it does and how we use it today. Hope is something that you could be confident in without any doubt whatsoever. And Paul is saying, listen, the hope or the certain reward that is in heaven for you. Like Peter said in 1 Peter 1.4,

He says that we have an inheritance that's incorruptible and undefiled and it does not fade away and it's reserved in heaven for you. It's guaranteed. It's a hope that's certain without doubt. And so Paul says, you know, we think about the certain reward that's waiting for you and the hope that you have and it's great. It causes us to rejoice. And so we're praying for you because of your faith, your love and your hope. Now, why these three things?

Why does he recognize these three things and say, that's cause, that's reason for me to pray for you? Very simply, because it is the fruit of the gospel message. There at the end of verse 5, he's talking about the truth of the gospel. And then he continues on in verse 6, which says, which has come to you.

He says, What's the fruit? Faith, love, and hope. That's the fruit that's brought forth as a result of the gospel message. These are not things that happen in a person naturally.

But they're things that are produced by believing the gospel message. We normally and naturally don't have faith, hope, and love. The Bible teaches us that no one seeks after God. There's none who seeks after him and walks his ways. There's no one who has faith except where the fruit of the gospel is. And the fruit of the gospel, believing in Jesus Christ and believing in the work that he's done, produces that faith.

In our life. That trust in God. Love. We don't love. Love is the word agape. It's the perfect self-sacrificing love. It's not a love that we can have naturally or no naturally. No matter how hard we try. It can only be produced by believing the gospel message and receiving the love that God has for us. First John tells us that. We love because he first loved us. And hope without Christ. There is no hope.

There's no hope of eternity. There's only hope of certain judgment. But by believing the gospel message as a fruit of the gospel message, we have a certain reward, incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, reserved in heaven for us. When you believe, when you knew the grace of God and truth, these things begin to bud and to blossom in you.

1 Corinthians 13, and now abide faith, hope, and love. These three, but the greatest of these is love. These are the things that abide in you, that blossom forth as a result of your relationship with God through Jesus Christ. These are the things that God wants to continue to work in you. And so when you hear of faith, hope, and love in a person's life, Paul says, let that encourage you. Pray for them.

Let that cause you and spark in you a desire and an earnestness to pray for those people because I'm doing a work in their heart, God says. I'm doing a wonderful work. They're believing in the gospel message and they're receiving what I have to say. And that's the fruit. That's the result. It's evidence of the work that God is doing. Verses 7 and 8.

As you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the spirit. And it's here that we're introduced to this man named Epaphras. And we'll talk more about him later on in the book. In chapter four, Paul deals with him again or talks about him again as a faithful servant and some great encouragement there.

But it's believed that this man, Epaphras, started the church in Colossae. That he went to Paul while Paul was in prison to bring him news of the church, the heresy that was being taught, and the things that were going on. It's through him that Paul hears of their faith and hope and love. And so we'll deal with that a little bit more as we get further into the book. But going on in verse 9, it says this.

For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Paul emphasizes again their need for the need for continuous prayers. He says, I do not cease to pray for you. And here we see the fifth thing again.

From the Apostle Paul this morning. First we saw when to pray. Then who to pray to. Who to pray for. The reason to pray or what should cause us to pray. And finally, what to pray. Now as we get down to prayer, what should our prayer consist of for those who are producing the fruit of faith, hope, and love? Well, this prayer that Paul gives us consists of two things. And then a third we'll look at later. But two things for now.

The first one we find here in verse 9. Here's what I'm praying for you, Paul says, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will. Here's my prayer for you guys, Paul says. I'm praying that you'll be filled with the knowledge of his will. This is so important for every believer. I already talked about it at the beginning with the Apostle Paul being called an apostle by the will of God. We need to know God's will for our life so that we can walk in it, an apostle by the will of God.

And you are so-and-so by the will of God. Doing this or doing that by the will of God. Paul says, I'm praying that you would have that confidence, that you would know what God's will is for your life. You know, there's a saying that goes something like this. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Anybody ever heard that saying?

It's true, right? Because Isaiah 55 tells us that God's ways are not our ways. As far as the heavens are above the earth, that's how high above our ways are God's ways. And so we do not understand his ways. We cannot understand his ways. But don't mistake that to mean that you cannot know God's will for your life. He doesn't intend it to be a mystery to you. He wants you to know God.

His will for your life. He has wonderful plans for you. And He wants you to walk in them. And so when you pray for people, following the example, the model of the Apostle Paul, pray that they would know the will of God. That they would be filled with the knowledge of the will of God. That they would have all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That they would be able to discern the things of God and the things that are not of God.

Going on in verses 10 and 11, he says that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power for all patience and long suffering with joy. Here's the second thing that Paul prays for. First of all, that they would be filled with the knowledge of his will. But secondly, that they may walk worthy of the Lord.

Now, this second part has multiple aspects to it, and we'll look at the different parts. But it's summed up there in the first line of verse 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord. It's a subject that we've covered a few times as we've looked at Ephesians and Philippians.

It means to walk worthy of his name and the calling that he has given to us. Now, God does not call us because we are worthy. He doesn't see us and go, wow, now that's the person I need. Man, those talents, I can't live without those talents. Get in my kingdom. Hurry up. He doesn't call us because we're worthy, but he calls us and then gives us everything that we need and says, walk worthy.

Walk worthy of my name. Walk worthy of my calling. You're not worthy, I know, but it's by my grace and by your mercy I'll give you everything you need. Walk worthy of the name of Jesus Christ. Paul gives us a few aspects to that. How do we do that? Well, first he says, fully pleasing him. And as a Christian, we're constantly learning to die to ourselves. We're learning to live to please God and not ourselves.

And so as we walk worthy of the Lord, Paul says, I'm praying that you'll be fully pleasing to Him.

You won't live for your own pleasure, for your own self, but you'll live to bring him pleasure, to fulfill his will, to do what he has called you to do. As Paul will encourage us later in the book of Colossians in chapter 3, verse 23, whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. The next thing he tells us about walking worthy of the Lord is being fruitful in every good work.

Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 tells us that we are God's workmanship. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so Paul prays, I'm praying that you may walk worthy of the Lord, which means that you'll be walking and fulfilling those good works that he has laid before you. He's already laid them out. They're all prepared. You just have to walk in them and be obedient to him.

Sometimes we feel inadequate. We feel like we don't have enough or what it takes to do the things that God has laid before us. And I would encourage you to check out 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. Because God gives us his word that you and I may be equipped for every good work.

The next thing, increasing in the knowledge of God. So to walk worthy of the Lord also involves increasing in the knowledge of the Lord. And that's why it's so important to continue to read the word of God on our own and be a part of Bible studies and services. Never be satisfied with your relationship with God. Never be satisfied where you are. Thirst for more. Seek to draw close to God. Seek to know him more, to be closer to him.

Finally, strengthened with all might for long-suffering with joy. This is verse 11. So walking worthy of the Lord involves living fully and pleasing to Him. It involves being fruitful in every good work. It involves increasing in the knowledge of God. But it also involves being strengthened with all might for long-suffering with joy. Now personally, I like the strengthened with all might part. It's the long-suffering with joy that I'm not too crazy about.

patience and long-suffering. You know, it's a part of love. 1 Corinthians 13 goes in great detail to share that with us. It's also a part of the Spirit's work in our life, as Galatians 5 tells us. Long-suffering and patience. God wants to work those things in us, that we would endure and have patience and be long-suffering with joy. Not that it's a burden and, man, bummer, I've got to be long-suffering, but with joy.

That you get to endure, that you get to walk with God, that he's with you. Because there's great comfort in this. He says, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power. Now, God is all powerful. And so we're strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power. That means it's an unlimited resource.

If you want to talk about deep pockets, that's some deep pockets. We don't ever have to worry about not having the strength we need to have patience and long-suffering with joy. God gives us, according to His glorious power, everything that we need. So that means that no matter what I am going through, no matter what life may throw at me, God gives me the strength to endure it with patience and long-suffering with joy.

no matter what it is, how difficult or hard it may be. And so we learn from Paul these five aspects of prayer. What is that prayer to consist of? That's what we've been looking at in this fifth point. Here's what our prayer should consist of. When we pray for people, pray, first of all, that they would know the will of God.

Then pray that they would walk worthy of the Lord, which means that they'll be fully pleasing to him. It means that they'll be fruitful in every good work. It means that they'll be increasing in the knowledge of God. And it means that they'll be strengthened with all might for long suffering with joy. The wonderful thing about this prayer, as we've seen in many of Paul's prayers, is

is that we can pray this for anyone. We don't have to know the person or the specific things that they're going through. We don't have to necessarily visit them, although that's great to do, but we can pray this prayer and be a part of God's work in their life, not knowing what's going on, not knowing what they're going through, having never met them or known their face. We can be a part of God's work around the world as we pray for those He puts upon our hearts.

In these areas. Now the last thing we learn. As far as what to pray. Is found in verse 12. He says giving thanks to the father. Who has qualified us to be partakers. Of the inheritance of the saints. In the light. The last thing as far as what to pray. We need to pray. Thanksgiving.

Giving thanks to God. Paul is praying for them and that they would know the will of God, that they would walk worthy of him. But he brings himself into the picture now. He says, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the like.

He now includes himself. He says, man, as I'm praying for you, it just it causes me to give thanks that God has allowed me to be a part of this. And he's allowed us to to come together and receive the kingdom of God. As you pray, give thanks to the father that he has qualified you. You're not qualified. None of us are. But he has qualified you to partake of the kingdom of God, to take part in the work of God.

And so we see Paul's prayer teaches us five things again. When to pray? Always. Who to pray to? God, the Father of Jesus Christ. Who to pray for? Whomever God puts upon your heart. The reason to pray or what causes us to pray? The faith, hope, and love being worked in their life. And fifthly, what to pray? That they would know the will of God. That they would walk worthy of the Lord.

And thanksgiving to God for including us in his perfect plan. And so like we often do, we want to take the word of God and apply it to our lives. And so we're going to spend a few moments in communion together. But before we do, let's take some time, just you alone with the Lord and pray for whoever God puts upon your heart. But pray for whoever you see and recognize the faith and hope and love. Pray for them.

Pray that they would know the will of God. Pray that they would walk worthy of Him and give thanks to God that He has qualified you and that you can be a part of His kingdom. And so let's just take a few moments. They're going to put the missionaries on the board. If you need someone to pray for or you have someone on your heart, just pray just for a few minutes that God would do a work in them. So let's take that time right now to pray.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.