Colossians 1

Today we are going to look at Paul’s prayer for the Colossians. This prayer is found in chapter 1 of Colossians and verses 9-14. Let’s look at it. It should be one of our prayers for the new year.

For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son;
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins;

The first thing we see here is that we pray and declare that we will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in our lives. That knowledge will come in His wisdom and spiritual understanding, which is actually comprehending God’s ways, God’s thoughts, God’s purposes. We are to pray and declare that we walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him and bearing fruit in every good work. We are increasing in the knowledge of God. Every day, more and more, we grow to know Him Who loves us. We are strengthened with all God’s might, power, ability so that we may exercise patience. Remember that patience in God’s realm is consistency, constancy. And we do that with joy.

We give thanks to our Father for making us able, for enabling us, to partake of our inheritance which He has given us. We declare that we receive that enabling to partake of everything He has given to us. We lay hold, lay claim to it now. We are able to partake of our inheritance and the Word is able to give it to us. This inheritance belongs to us, and no enemy is allowed to take it.

We give thanks to our Father for making the way (Jesus) for us to be delivered from the power (authority, control) of darkness and delivering us into the His Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of His dear Son, the Son Whom He loves.

We give thanks to our Father for sending Jesus to redeem us through His blood, to forgive us of our sins. We thank Him for setting us free, giving us the liberty to walk free from sin and all its consequences such as poverty, sickness and disease, depression, lack, want, fear, etc. We give thanks.

What a set of promises these scriptures present to us. And, of course, the rest of this chapter is just as exciting as that prayer. Verses 15-23 tell us that Jesus Christ is the exact image of the Father. By Him all things were created in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, dominions, principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. He existed before all things and by Him all things are held together. Jesus is the Head of the church and it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. (Ephesians 1:23-----We are His body, the fullness of Him. That means that since He is dwelling in us, the fullness of God is dwelling in us. Let that sink in for a moment and it will change the way you think and act and walk on this earth. You are a powerhouse and need to wake up to that fact now. The fullness of God has chosen to dwell in you. He knew it was risky but He did it anyway.) Jesus is our peace; He has reconciled us to God. We are one with God again and are part of His family. What we have to do is to accept this sonship, this family reinstatement as a member again of God's family.

We are to continue firmly grounded in faith and settled in our understanding of what Jesus has bought and paid for us with His blood. He is in us with His anointing and that is our hope of His glory, His presence manifested in us and through us and for us. We are living in the days when we will see this demonstrated in more powerful ways than we have ever seen. Get ready. Prepare yourself. How? Spend much time with Him and His Word. Obey Him. Listen to Him.