Turn with me to Colossians chapter 1 verse 9 to verse 14, please. Okay. On occasion, when we speak to non-Christians, let's say, people who are not saved by Jesus Christ, and we ask them to consider the idea of praying. A common reaction, a sort of response that we might get is, okay, that's fine, praying, I'll give that a blast. But a common reaction is that they might say, okay, but I don't know what I would pray. I don't know, if it's gonna give praying a shot, I don't know what I would pray about. Now, what I want us to think about just now is that that there, that problem is not the preserve of the non-Christian, is it? Like, I think if we were honest with ourselves tonight, if you're honest with yourself, I'm honest with myself, that sometimes even we as Christians, we struggle with the content of our prayers, don't we? Like, you know, at home we struggle with, okay, I know I'm supposed to pray and I've got a vague idea of what I should pray, but I don't know what I should be praying about. Well, here's the thing. Tonight, in Holy Scripture, Colossians 1, we are confronted with desires that God has got for his people. So here's the hope. The hope is that not only do we see and work out what the desires are in Colossians 1, not only do we understand these desires that God has got for you, for me, the hope is that we actually take these things that God desires for us and we go home tonight And this week, we incorporate this stuff into the content of our personal prayer lives. That's the hope. Now, we had a break from Colossians last week because Hugh was here, but if you cast your mind back a couple of weeks, you're going to remember what we've got in front of us, okay? The Apostle Paul has written a letter to this church in Colossae. Now, it's a young church in the first century. And what I mean is not like ourselves in general, age-wise. It's a young church in that it's spiritually immature. These guys have not been Christians for a long time in Colossae. And do you remember how he began his letter? He begins by assuring them that he is praying for them. And it's more than that. Do you remember what it was? What we saw two weeks ago? He's telling them that he's thanking God for these young Christians. He's thanking God for their, remember, what was it? Their faith, their love, and their hope. Well, that's great, but tonight, this portion of Scripture, what happens is that Paul, in these verses, is continuing. Get this, please. He's continuing to tell the Colossians of his prayers for them. But it isn't Thanksgiving now. He's moving on. He's told them about his Thanksgiving. Tonight, this is about the content of his intercession. So I'll say that in another way. Tonight, in these verses, Paul is telling the Colossians what it is that he is asking God to do for them in their lives. And he mentions a few things. So this is what we're going to look at tonight. You ready? First thing. This is our first heading. Paul prays for the Colossians. Knowledge of God. That's it. First thing. Knowledge of God. Look at verse 9. If you've got your Bibles open, look at verse 9. He says, I am asking God to fill you. This is the first thing. Knowledge. Fill you with knowledge. Okay, now a number of years ago, a good number of years ago, before I was a Christian, a group of my friends, they got together and it was almost like a book club, but not quite as sad as a book club. And they got together and they wanted to read a book called The Celestine Prophecy. I wonder if you've heard of the Celestine Prophecy or not? Well I've not read the Celestine Prophecy but from what I could gather from my friends is that the Celestine Prophecy was a book that kind of tried to sort of mix, what would you say, sort of Eastern mysticism with lots of other different religions and beliefs and this book kind of, you know, it kind of offered a secret experience of the divine, which is quite a claim. And even though I wasn't a Christian at the time, I thought, I sort of thought, yeah right, not getting involved in that, what a load of nonsense. Well what we've got to realise is that a similar thing was going on in Colossae. Because what we can tell from what Paul says in this letter, in fact, do you know what? What we can tell from the terminology that Paul uses all the way through this letter, in particular the fact that he repeats a terminology, a phrase, being filled or fullness, what we can tell is that those false teachers, do you remember we talked about them in Colossae? These guys had come into this newly formed congregation. Do you know what they were offering them? Pretty much what the Celestine Prophecy was offering. They were offering this church a new spiritual experience. They come in, these teachers, and they're undermining the gospel, undermining what Epaphras has said about Jesus Christ. And they're saying, no, no, no, no, no. We can give you something greater. We can give you a much bigger spiritual experience. And what Paul does, he writes to them and he says, not only does he say, no, no, no, no, knowledge of Christ is what is necessary. Look what he does here. He writes and he tells them that he is praying that this knowledge, you know, proper knowledge, biblical knowledge, godly knowledge, that that knowledge would increase. Now, here's the thing that we have to think about just now. What does Paul mean by knowledge here? Because we use knowledge, that word, the idea, in a lot of different ways, in different contexts. What is it that Paul is talking about? What does he mean when he's praying for their knowledge? Because you know what people say, don't you? You'll have heard this before, that people say you can either be an intelligent sort of academic person, Or you can be an incredibly practical person, but it's very, very rare that you find somebody who's both. There'll be a bloke who's maybe doing a PhD at Cambridge, but he can't put up a shelf to save himself, you know? Or there'll be a guy who is fantastic at fixing cars, but he'd be no great shakes at a PhD at Cambridge. Well, you see, this knowledge that Paul desires for the Colossians, do you know what? It covers both of those things. Because Paul's praying that these Colossians would grow in head knowledge. He desires that this young group of Christians would actually know more about Jesus, more about theology, more about the gospel of grace, but do you know what? On top of that, he is also praying and desiring that they would be able to What was it practically? That they would be able to live out that knowledge in godly obedience. Look what he says in verse 9. It's not just head knowledge. Look at it. It is knowledge of God's will. Do you see it? It's knowledge. It's knowledge of how to live for God. And that, this evening, brings us to a mistake that we make very often in the Christian life. So follow me in this. This is a mistake that we make all the time. Somebody comes to you and says, I'm seeking God's will. What do you envisage is happening in that person's life? Seeking God's will. Well, if you're anything like me, you think that that person has got a huge decision to make in their life, don't you? seeking God's will. They've got something massive on the horizon, something that they are, you know, wrestling with God about, you know, seeking God and prayer, seeking God's will. Do you know what? That is not what Paul is talking about here at all. Look what he says. Now listen to what he says. He's saying, I'm praying for you, Colossians, that you would have the knowledge of God's will in order that you may have a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in what? In every way. Do you see what he's saying? He's praying not that this group of Christians would know God's will in the big decisions. He's not praying that they would know God's will in the huge major calls that they've got to make in their lives. Paul's praying something different. Paul's praying that they would know God's will in guess what? Everything. and how to communicate with our work colleagues, you know? And how to love their spouse, and how to love their parents, and how to serve graciously in the life of the church. Do you see it? Knowing God's will in absolutely everything. Now I said at the beginning that this was a letter written by Paul to the Colossian church in the first century, didn't I? You're not going to argue with that, are you? That's right. But what I want you to remember is that this is also a letter that is written to you tonight. That God knew. What did John Blanchard say for the young people who were here last night? What did he say? What was that phrase he used? It's a great phrase. God knew before he put stars in the sky. God knew before he put stars in the sky that you would be in here tonight. And God knew that you would be reading these very verses. So when you think about that, do you see that Paul's concern for the Colossian church is actually God's concern for you this evening? Do you see what God wants for you? God wants you to increase in knowledge. God wants you to develop spiritual insight into how you are going to live for Christ, not just in the big things, but in absolutely every area of life. So here you go. Here's the challenge. You ready for this? I would encourage you to take what you're seeing here tonight and to incorporate it into your prayer life this coming week. So I would ask you and encourage you that over the next seven days, you ask God for knowledge. Now, I mean that if you're a young Christian, if you've not been a Christian for all that long, just like these Colossians, this week, seven days, you ask God each day for knowledge. If you are a Christian who is battling the devil just now, just as these Colossians do, you go home. And you ask God for knowledge. Because really, if you're doing that, what you are doing is a wonderful thing. It's a marvellous thing, because do you know what? In essence, what you are doing is asking the Lord God to show you more about Jesus. To show you more about how you can and must live for Him in every area of your life. We pray this week. Please pray this week. and pray for knowledge. So Paul prays for the Colossians' knowledge of God. Okay, that's the first thing. Second thing, Paul prays that these Colossians, this Colossian church, would receive power from God. Look at verse 11. If your Bibles open verse 11, He said they would be, do you see it? Being strengthened with all power. Now, I'm sure you're familiar with this scenario. Many of you will be. You're at work and the boss comes in to speak to you and the boss tells you what he or she expects of you in the coming days. You know, gives you all the instructions and and the boss goes away and you are left thinking, what? Are you kidding me? You expect me to do all that? You know that your boss has come to you and it's just, you know, it's mission impossible and you think there's no way I'm going to be able... Can you relate to that? I'm sure many people can. Well, that's the sort of thing that we've got here with Paul, isn't it? If we put our minds into it. He's praying. Think about how high a calling this is. He's praying that the Colossian church, young believers, will be able to know how to live for Jesus Christ in everything. Do you see how that is a high calling? Do you see how that is seemingly sort of mission impossible? Do you see what I mean? But what he does It's wonderful what he does here because he prays not only that the Colossians are going to know how to live for Christ, not only are they going to see how they should live to glorify Jesus, he prays more than that. He prays that they will actually be equipped to do it. That they won't just have knowledge, they won't just see how to live for Jesus, that they're actually going to have the power And he says a few things about this power. Now follow me on this. First thing he says, he says that this power to live for God, that it only and always comes from God. The power to live for God comes from God. He's teaching a young group of believers what we sometimes don't want to hear. that Christianity is not a self-help religion. You know, he's teaching them that this Bible isn't here just so that we can tap into our inner strength. You see that? And he's saying instead, no, no, no, that the power to live for Jesus Christ You don't have it. The power to live for Jesus Christ is a power that only comes from God and his spirit. Look at verse 11. He prays that the Colossians would be strengthened with all power, not from within, but the Colossians would be strengthened with all power according to God's glorious might. So this power to live for Jesus, it comes from God. Second thing he says about the power is that it's progressive. Now, what did I say about the Colossian church? I said it was young, immature. Okay, so they're new to faith. They're new Christians, if you like, this group of people. Now, he's praying that those young Christians wouldn't, it's not that they would have a sort of Clark Kent type sort of spiritual experience when he's praying about power. It's not that, you know, he's not praying that suddenly that they would pray and these young people would wake up and suddenly, you know, they're supernatural, super powerful Christians that can live in all things flawlessly, suddenly for Jesus. It's not that. He's praying for a progressive, look at the language, that they would be being strengthened. Now, do you see what he's saying? I wonder, do you see what it is that we in here, should be praying for ourselves. You should be praying that you mature. We should be praying that we grow, that there is growth. Not that we just suddenly switch on and we're wonderful, perfect Christians. We should be praying regularly that we grow, not just in knowledge of how to live for Christ, but that we actually grow in power. So it's power from God and it's progressive power. And then the third thing about the power is that it's power with an end in view, with a goal in view of this power. So what does that mean? Okay, again, if you've got a Bible open, look at verse 11. If you look at verse 11, tell me, what's the goal? What's Paul praying about power? What does he want to happen? You see it? Verse 11. He wants them being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that... So what's the goal? That they might have endurance and patience. Endurance, patience. That's the goal, that's the end in view, right? Now, I went to the cinema this week and I sat through Gone Girl, okay? And there's like ten people wondering, oh he's going to ruin the story, he's going to tell us what happens at the end. I won't, no spoilers, okay? And I don't know, I sat through three hours of the film, it felt like ten hours, you know? Really, it's one of those films that is just this crescendo of suspense, you know the sort of thing, that it's just like every scene is kind of building on the tension and it's just building up and you're sitting there for hours and it's like, oh, this is horrible. And then it got to the end of the film and it just ended. I just sat there shaking my head thinking, are you kidding me? Is that the end of the film? and it was just the biggest anti-climax ever, okay? But here's the thing, is that what we think is happening here? Like, do we think that what Paul has said about power is an anti-climax? An anti-climax? You see what he's saying? He's saying, I'm praying for you guys that you would receive power! And what do we think? Do we think he's gonna go on? Power because you'll be able to vanquish all evil from your lives. You know, something like that's my bit, you know? Power that you'll be able to extinguish all wickedness. And what do we get? Power so that you might... What? So that you might endure? Are you kidding me? So that you might be patient. Does that seem like an anti-climax? Does it? Well, it's not. It's not when we understand Christian endurance in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not an anti-climax. You see, the endurance of Christians through misery and pain and real suffering to the world's eyes, the endurance, the patient endurance of Christians is a total anti-climax, isn't it? Let me tell you, that is not anticlimactic to God. Do you see that? The patient endurance of Christians. Not only is that the most wonderful and beautiful sign of faith and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know what? Endurance, you endurance through tough times, it is something that glorifies the Lord God of heaven above. So the world might look at our endurance in Jesus Christ and it might think, oh, that's pathetic. But let me tell you, your silent endurance, it is going to lead to the voices of heaven erupting and bursting forth in joyous praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we've got knowledge, but we're going to pray for power. And we're going to pray for power from God, progressive power and power that leads to our endurance. We pray for knowledge, we pray for power. The last thing, third thing, knowledge, power. But Paul goes on to tell the Colossians that he is praying for their thankfulness to God. Thankfulness. Now, maybe as soon as I say that, you think, come on, Paul, change the record. You know, maybe you think, well, hang on, Paul, you began this letter with thankfulness. How come you're back there already? There's only a couple of verses and you're back to the same theme. Yeah, you think like that? Well, we shouldn't. We should see that because of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, the Christian person should never ever be done with thankfulness. We should never ever, there should never be an end to the gratitude. But here's the thing, what is it exactly that Paul desires that the Colossians be thankful about? Okay, now, look, there's three things. That sounds like a lot, but I'll tell you how it's going to go down. I'm not going to go into these details. I'm not going to go into details. I'm just going to give you the three things that the Colossians should be thankful about, and then we're done. And that's it. We finish. So I'll just mention the three things that they should be thankful about. One. It's the Colossians' heavenly hope. As we go through these things, if you're a Christian, See that this is a reason, these three things are reasons for you to go home, out of that door and be joyous in Christ. First one, heavenly hope. Do you see it in verse 12? Look at it. Paul's praying that the Colossians will be, what does it say? Verse 12. They will be joyfully giving thanks to the Father. who's qualified them to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Now, if you've been regularly at church over the last couple of months, I pray that you're seeing the language there and it's ringing some bells. Because Paul's effectively quoting Abraham, isn't he? Look at this, he talks of this inheritance from God. But do you see the difference? Where Abraham's inheritance in Canaan, it's something that could be conquered by enemies or it could have been, you know, it could have been affected by famine or drought. Look at what he's saying about this inheritance. He's saying it is inheritance in the kingdom of light. that this inheritance that the Colossian Christians have is something up there that it's a kingdom of light, it's a heavenly kingdom that it's something that is just secure and it's something that cannot be touched and then it just gets better because note that this inheritance that they have got is not something that is in doubt that it's not something that can be questioned. Do you see the language that Paul uses? He tells these young Christians, even though you're young in the faith, even though you've not been Christians long, because of Jesus Christ, do you see what he says? Do you see the language? God has already qualified you for glory. Is that not a reason for you to be thankful tonight? Think about our sin and how wicked we've been even this week. And yet, because of the wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ, God has already qualified you for the kingdom of glory, for the kingdom of light. Second one, second area of thanks, verse 13. The Colossians' great deliverance. Now, good friends of mine, have very, very recently adopted a wee boy. And because of that, you know, I've just... I'm in awe, you know? But I'm in awe of adoption agencies themselves, really. You sort of look at it in new eyes when you actually see it in practice. It's amazing what these places do, isn't it? I mean, they work tirelessly, but what the adoption agencies do is that they will take a child sometimes, and I've seen it in action, they will take a child from sometimes a place of fear and abuse and a place of absolute terror and anguish. And the adoption agencies come in and they rescue that child. And they place the child in a new family and into a place of tenderness and care and absolute love. I hope you see that Paul is hoping that the Colossians will be given thanks, that God has done that for them. That is what God has done for the Colossian church. I mean, that's what he's saying. God has taken his children and he's taken them out of a place of terror and fear and evil and wickedness and he has taken them and he has moved them into a new dominion. A new status, a new stand. Look at verse 13. Look at it. God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness. What has he done? Think of the adoption agency. He has brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves. Do you see what it means? It means that tonight you go home, you go out the doors, you thank God for glory. But you thank him that he has transferred you into his glorious salvation as a Christian. And then Paul concludes his prayer report. So the very last reason that he gives the Colossians this church for thankfulness. He reminds that congregation that they are forgiven for their sin. And despite this idea, despite it being one of the central tenets of the gospel of Jesus Christ, isn't it true that we forget this? That we forget this most fundamental and basic implication of the cross, that tonight, in Jesus Christ, We are forgiven. And again, think about how sinful you've been this week. And think about even today, how sinful you've been. And to think that in Jesus Christ, all that is gone. All that is forgiven. Your guilt, It's not on you anymore that though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Now, shouldn't that be a reason that we are staggered? Yeah, but should that not be a reason that tonight we are just overwhelmed with thankfulness? We're forgiven in Jesus Christ. Friends, let me say this to you, just as we end. I urge you not to underestimate the importance of thanksgiving to the Christian life. It is something that is necessary, and it is something wonderful. Thankfulness, just like endurance, is something that glorifies God. And we have much to thank God for, because our sin is gone, and we have that new family. and we have that heavenly hope. So tonight, we close Colossians 1. And may we go from this place better equipped tonight to pray. May we go seven days ahead. Let's pray that we have a knowledge of God. Let us pray that we have power to actually do God's will. And also, no, not the next seven days. Eternally, let us be thankful for this great salvation that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.