“So, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
– Colossians 1:9–12
Colossians 1:9–12 is one of those places in the Bible where we see Paul praying for the Christians he’s writing to in a way that leads us to pray the same exact things for Christians around us, for followers of Christ in our spheres of influence. So I want to read Colossians 1:9–12 and then just lead us to pray specifically for people around us in the same way Paul was praying this for people around him.
Paul’s prayer for the Colossians helps pray for fellow church members.
Colossians 1:9–12 Prays For The Churches And Followers
So let me lead us to pray this, and let’s pray specifically for the Church around us. Think about your local church, the followers of Christ that you are a member of, the body of Christ, where you’re a part of that body. Think about your church, as we pray this prayer.
We pray, oh God, right now, for our churches, for the people in our churches. We ask that they would be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Oh God, help them to know Your will, to know Your will revealed in Your Word. Then help them to have clarity from Your Word regarding Your will for their lives. Give them, we pray, spiritual wisdom and understanding based on Your Word. Help them to grow in wisdom. Help them to grow in understanding, to grow in the fear of You, which we know is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge and understanding.
So help them, we pray, to be filled with knowledge of Your will, so that they can walk in a manner worthy of You. God we pray for the believers around us. God help them to walk, we pray, in a manner that’s worthy of You, in a way that reflects Your character, in a way that reflects the gospel, by which they have been saved. Lord, keep us from disgracing, from blaspheming Your name. Help us to walk in a manner that’s worthy of You, fully pleasing to You.
This Verse Prays To Increase Our Knowledge Of God
Oh God, please fix their minds and hearts today on what’s pleasing to You. Fix our minds and hearts on what is pleasing to You. Help us to live for Your pleasure, bearing fruit in every good work. Lord, we pray for good work to abound from our churches. From the followers around us may there be much fruit, through the good work of their lives. May they increase in the knowledge of You. So God help them to grow in the knowledge of You. Help them know You more today than they did yesterday, more tomorrow than they do today. And help them to increase in the knowledge of You.
Help them to be strengthened with all power, according to Your glorious might. Please, oh God, strengthen them. We know that we are weak in and of ourselves. That our brothers and sisters around us are weak and we need strength. Therefore, they need strength. They need Your strength, according to Your might, strengthen them for endurance and patience with joy. We pray especially for brothers and sisters who are walking through trials and challenges right now. Help them to endure with patience. Help them to endure with joy, giving thanks to You, the Father. Lord, we pray for a spirit of gratitude in our brothers and sisters. We pray for a spirit of gratitude across our churches, because You have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saint in light.
Colossians 1:9–12 Gives Thanks For God’s Gratitude
Oh God, we do thank You. We give gratitude to You for qualifying us by Your grace, to share in the inheritance of all the saints throughout all history. God, we pray that You would make our churches a grateful people. Make our churches filled with gratitude, because of what You have qualified us to experience, to share in as our inheritance before You. All glory be to Your name, oh God, for what You have done in our lives, for how You have made us the Church. We pray for Your blessings on our churches in all of these ways, for the followers of Christ around us. In all of these ways, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
