All right, this was one of those Sunday school classes in which I was unsure as to where to go because I won't be teaching next week. I'll be here next week. Jason will be teaching next week because I'll be in Louisville, Kentucky, most of the week for together for the gospel conference. And so in trying to discern. what would be just a good topic to have that wouldn't be interrupted, one-shot deal. I thought one topic that's always good to teach on, and that has to do with the area of prayer. And so I want us to consider the area of prayer and particularly look at one of the Apostle Paul's prayers. It is an important topic, and certainly the Word of God encourages us to pray. D. A. Carson points out in his studies that as we study the Scriptures with a view of strengthening one's prayer life, there are two focuses. First of all, when you study the Scripture with a view of strengthening your prayer life, there is a general or a comprehensive focus. In other words, the more we learn about God and His ways and His perspectives, the more we improve our grasp, not only of elementary theology, but of prayer as well. The more we study the Scriptures, D. A. Carson says, the more we grasp the importance and the prospects of prayer. He goes on to say, deeply grasping the scriptures is bound to have a reforming influence on our prayers. When the Word of God begins to infiltrate our lives, it ought to have an influence on our prayer life. And then he said the second focus is a more narrow or powerful focus. The study of prayer in the scriptures has a narrow and powerful focus as well. Learn to argue in prayer. Through the prayer of Moses. Learn to sing with David. Be farsighted. and expansive with Solomon at the dedication of the temple. Think through what it means to pray, even the prayer taught by the Lord Jesus Himself. Learn to pray with Paul. Such study will help us identify what to pray for, how to approach God, and the proper grounds of our petition. So even as we study the Scriptures and study the prayers found in the Scriptures, it helps us to better understand what prayer is all about and how we should pray and how we should argue with God even when we pray. But this morning I want us to look at one of the Apostle Paul's prayers found in Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Notice what he says starting there at verse 9. Colossians 1 and verse 9. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you. We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all aspects. bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power according to His glorious might for the obtaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Here we have the prayer of the Apostle Paul. As we consider this prayer, I want to do so under two headings. First of all, to say something about the setting of this prayer. And then secondly, to notice the substance of this prayer. So first of all, notice with me the setting, the setting, the background, the backdrop of this prayer, as it were. And here I'd have you notice three things with me. First of all, Paul has never met those that he's now praying for. Since the day I heard of it, what have you heard of? Well, if you read that which precedes it, he talks about what he has learned concerning their faithfulness of the people of God there at Colossae. and says, since the day I heard it, since the day I received word, I have never ceased praying for you. So though he had never visited them, he assured them that he was praying for them. So as Paul would receive a report concerning the work there at Colossae, that report would form the substance of Paul's prayers for them. And I think it's a good reminder for us that even as we pray, we do not have to have a self-focus when it comes to our prayers. But I believe we're following a pattern that the Apostle Paul sets down here when we pray on Wednesday night. For many of those that we pray for on Wednesday night, we may never see eyeball to eyeball. Now, this past Wednesday, we prayed for Hope Henry, and many of you have met her. Some of you have not. She was a part of this assembly from the time, I don't know how old she was, when the Henry's arrived here. We watched Hope grow up. And so those who have been in the assembly here for a while know who she is, but some of you maybe never met her. If she walked in this morning, you wouldn't know her unless you saw a number of us go up and embrace her and say she must be somebody that everybody knows. And then we prayed for the Stern family, who are in the Middle East. And again, we've had the opportunity of meeting the Stern family. They were here, it's hard for me, what was it, a year and a half, two years ago? I mean, for me, everything was last year. I mean, things that happened six years ago, didn't that happen last year? So I think about a year and a half, two years ago, the Sterns were with us. So we're thankful for the opportunity of seeing them face-to-face, but even as we pray for them there in the Middle East, in all likelihood, we're never going to have contact with those who they have contact with there in the Middle East. Pastor Huffmeyer was here, I know, a couple weeks ago. And so some of you had an opportunity to perhaps to meet him for the first time and the ministry there in the Philippines. But I'm sure that as he gave that report and he and he showed pictures, I take for granted he sold some pictures of various ones that he's ministered to and some of the men he's seeking to train for the ministry. You may never meet them face to face, but does that lessen our intercession for them, our prayers for them? We're going to have the opportunity of, in May, the Gilios, something along that line, they're in Papua New Guinea, and they're going to be with us in May. The church in Flemington, New Jersey, with Alan Dunn, sent them out. And so they'll be here in May. So it'll give us another opportunity to see another family who, I mean, they're in the middle of nowhere, dealing with people who have never heard the gospel, know nothing of Christ. So these are wonderful opportunities when we get to meet them. But even if we don't get to meet them, how diligently are we praying for those, interceding for those of a more broad circle than just our own assembly? I think the Apostle Paul left us a model, left us an example that as we receive reports, may our prayers form around those reports and pray for the brethren in other places that we never may be able to meet face to face. So it's a good thing as we gather together for prayer. and to pray for these brethren in other places. The second thing I'd have you notice with me about the setting is he says he prays for them unceasingly. He says there in verse nine, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you. That's an interesting comment to make. What does he mean when he says, I haven't ceased to pray for you? Does that mean 24-7? The Apostle Paul, we see him there and he's always praying. Pray for the church at Colossae. What are you doing, Paul? I'm praying for the church at Colossae. Three minutes later, what are you doing now, Paul? I'm praying for the church. Is that what he means? What does he mean when he says, I pray unceasingly for you? What do you think that language means? We're told to pray without ceasing. What exactly does that look like, Dale? So, on a regular basis, as he prays, they are ones that he regularly prays for. I think that could have something to do with it. I think that's a reasonable answer. And again, it's a reminder to us, you know, how often do we pray and intercede for these brethren? I hope that we don't just say, let's pray for Hope Henry. We do it on Wednesday night. We'll do it at the worship service and that's it. But I hope that as we've gotten to know what she's doing and praying for her, that it's part of our regular prayers is to pray for her. Now, how that may look like, I don't know, for some families. When our children were young, we would often on Thursdays, as we would pray and read the scriptures together, we would pray on Thursdays for those pastors and so forth that we prayed for on Wednesday night, so that we regularly would pray for the reports that we would get. So that's what we did, so what that looks like for you, I don't know, but Paul made it his regular intercession for the church there at Colossae. I think another thing it might mean is that they were continually on his mind. And I think that as he went throughout the day, something might happen. And he would think of the Church of Colossians. He was ready to pray. He was ready to pray for that assembly and for those people that made up that assembly. I think that that's also a part of praying without ceasing, that as we're walking or as we're in the midst of doing other things, God might bring something to our mind. And we're always ready to pray. And, you know, I'm sure with most of us, many of us, perhaps throughout the day, uh... certain things come to our minds perhaps our children And we don't say, well, I'm thinking about my children now, but I'll wait till the night to pray. We might just send up a quick prayer right then and there as we're thinking about our children and what they're going through. You have a son that's a state trooper, and you know he's on duty. It's amazing how many times throughout the day he comes to mind. And you can imagine what my prayer is. Lord, keep him safe. Watch over him throughout the day. So I think that may have an involvement with regard to praying unceasingly, never ceasing to not pray for the church at Colossae. It was part of his ongoing prayer life. Of course, then the challenge is, do we have an ongoing prayer life? It's one of those things that are so easily neglected, spending time in communion with God. The third thing that I would point out just very briefly about the setting is it is with joyful thanksgiving. We'll touch on this, I believe, in a little bit again. But his prayer was marked not only with petition, but with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving, giving thanks to the father. So many times we're inclined when we pray to ask and certainly asking is part of praying, right? petitioning God. But also, Paul says, we ought to always give thanks. And so there is that spirit of gratitude that is found in his prayer as well. as he seeks to intercede on behalf of the church there in Colossae. So those are the three things I wanted to say with regard to the setting, that these are people he's probably never met, they prayed unceasingly for them, and his prayer was mixed with thanksgiving. So we see those things just by way of the setting of the prayer. Any questions, comments or anything? That's pretty basic there, but you may have something you want to add. And then again, you may not. So let's move on to the substance then of the prayer. the substance of the prayer. And notice what he says. He says there, we'll start verse 9, For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask, and here's what we're going to ask for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul says, when I pray for you, believers there in Colossae, here's what I'm asking God. I'm asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will. He wants them to be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Now what do you suppose he means by that? What is the will of God? Well, oftentimes when we speak about the will of God, we speak about things that perhaps are in the future. So Ethan, you come to my class, Ethan, I'm going to point you out, buddy. So Ethan is getting ready to graduate high school and perhaps someone would say to him, why do you believe God's will is for you with regard to your future? And he would say, well, I'm I'm going to college. And then you would say, well, where do you believe God's will is for you to attend college? And he would say, you know, I'm hoping Adrian or Sienna, I'm staying right here at home and I'm not moving away like everybody else does. But oftentimes that's how we speak of the will of God, something in the future. I wonder what God's will is for my life with regard to marriage. I wonder what God's will is for my life with regard to career. We speak of it that way. But I do not believe that that's what the Apostle Paul has in mind as he says, I'm praying that you would be filled with the will of God in your lives. I'm not thinking he's praying. I trust you'll be able to see who you're to marry, what career you're to go in or whatever. So what does he mean by the will of God? And perhaps the best way to answer that is to consider, for example, Psalm 143. Psalm 143. Teach me to do your will. For you are my God. May your good spirit lead me on level ground. Teach me to do your will. The will of God is something that is done. We're doing the will of God. And so therefore, I would say this, doing the will of God is the same thing as doing what God commands. So therefore, when the Apostle Paul says, I pray that you would be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, he is praying that the people there at Colossae would be a people who know the Word of God. who understand the commands of God, and they're doing them. His will is all that He has commanded. My responsibility is to do it. It's interesting, the psalmist in Psalm 143 does not say, Oh Lord, help me to find the will of God. But he says, teach me. Teach me to do the will of God. The psalmist assumes that we know where to find the will of God. That we know the will of God is made known to us in His Word. And the psalmist assumes that we already know it And his chief concern is that we practice it. I want to know the will of God. I want to know what His Word says. Here I have His Word. We're not left in the dark. Everything you need to know with regard to life and holiness is found in the Word of God. And so as Paul prays for the church at Colossae, his prayer is that they would be people of the Word to practice it in their lives, that it would have an effect upon every area of their life. Does the Word of God have a profound effect upon what you are in your home? Why do you live the way you live in your home? Now, if your answer is, Because it's just comfortable. It's my home. My home is my palace. So I'm going to live in whatever way I want to in my home in which I can be comfortable and happy. Then you're missing the point, because God's Word directs us on what we ought to be in our homes. I'm not left to wonder what I ought to be as a husband. The Bible is very clear with regard to what I ought to be as a husband. I'm not left to wonder what I ought to be as a father. The Bible's clear. Here's what I ought to be as a father. I'm not left to wonder, as I'm sitting there in my living room, what I ought to be as a neighbor. The Bible tells me what I ought to be as a neighbor. It affects every portion of my life. And Paul says to the church at Colossae, I pray that you would be filled, that you would be full with the knowledge of the will of Almighty God. And that it would have an effect upon your lives. that you would know it and practice it. And so that's his his basic petition for them. How do we pray for one another? Well, Paul gives us an example of of perhaps how we ought to be praying for each other. The Word of God would have an effect upon our lives. I'm reminded of Romans 12. Turn over there, it's gone blank in my mind. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Don't let the world determine how you live. And don't let the world set the standard of what you ought to be. But may you give yourself and your intellect to knowing what the Word of God is, so that you may prove what the will of God is, which is good, acceptable, and perfect. It's the will of God that ought to determine how you live. Not the world. So often we allow the world to set the standard. And Paul warns us against that, and he says, here's the perfect and acceptable and the good. It's doing the will of God. Not looking for the applause of your neighbor, but looking for the applause of God. to have the Word of God affect your life. Look over to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5 and verse 15, Therefore, be careful how you walk. Not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Don't walk around like a fool. But be wise. Well, how do I demonstrate wisdom? It is when I come and grasp the will of God and seek to apply it to my life, making the most of my time. And so in the workplace, I want to work. In that way, which I know is the will of God for me to work whatsoever my hands find it to do, do it with all my mind and so forth. Look over to First Thessalonians, First Thessalonians, chapter four. Verse three. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 3, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. That is, what is it? That you abstain from sexual immorality. That each of you know how to possess his own vessel and sanctification in honor, not in lust, lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. So here he tells us, this is the will of God, that you would be a separated people. That you would be a holy people. And that you would stay away from sexual immorality. Then look over to chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. There in verse 16, rejoice always Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Here's the challenge, dear people. Are we pursuing the will of God? Are we living by the dictates of His Word? Or can we be content simply living in this world, maybe with a little higher moral standing than most of the people in the world, so that they look at us as though there's something different about them, but we're not fully engaged in pursuing the will of God and taking God's Word and applying it to every part of my life? Are we pursuing the will of God? And he says, we'll go back to Colossians, he says, with spiritual wisdom and understanding, he says, that you would be filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul assumes that it is through spiritual wisdom and understanding that the way in which God leads us in order for us to know His will. He gives us wisdom and understanding that we might know His will. He wants us not to just know certain doctrines. He wants us not simply to say, here's good theology, but He wants us to be a people who live by His Word, the knowledge of God's will, that we would have an understanding of it and then apply it to our lives. That's what he wants. That's the basic general petition that he sets before God for the church there at Colossae. That they would be obedient. It's like James says, that they would be more than just hearers. but doers of the word, doers of the word. And so that's the substance of his prayer, that they would be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Now, before moving on, because amidst the substance, giving us the substance, he does give us the aim, the purpose. Why am I praying this way? Why do I have a longing for this in your lives? He'll tell us that in a minute, but before we move on, is there any questions, comments or anything? Okay. And notice he goes on to then set it before us, the purpose. He says, so that, verse 10, you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respect. As you're seeking to have the Word of God affect the way that you live, He says in doing that, you'll walk in a way that will give honor to God. It will show the value of your God, that your life Your life will demonstrate the great value and worth of your God and not bring shame upon His name. I suppose all of us want to keep a good name. And we talk about keeping a good name. And maybe when you sent your children to school, you would say, remember, remember, you're a Tobar. Don't let anybody disgrace that. Don't you disgrace that name. Don't you bring shame to that name. Remember, you're a whatever. Don't bring shame. Or perhaps you didn't say that when they left, but when they came home, you would say, I can't believe you did that. You're ruining our good name. Here, Paul says, as believers, the one thing we ought to want to do is to demonstrate to this world the greatness and the value of our God. and not bring shame upon him. And he says, this is why I want the Word of God to be effective in your life, so that, so that you will walk in a way that is worthy of the Lord. That is worthy of the Lord. Paul was concerned about that. Look over to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul there in chapter 1 speaks about his own circumstances even now. And he talks about how some are preaching for selfish gain and others are preaching true. And he's just delighted that Christ is being preached. And he's talked about his imprisonment and being around the Praetorian Guard. And then starting there in verse 20, listen to what the Apostle Paul says, According to my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness Christ will, even now as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Paul says, this is what I want in the midst of going through all these. These are trying circumstances and there's difficulty involved. But in the midst of it all, I pray that I would not bring shame upon God, but that I would, by my life, exalt, lift him up. Lift up his name. In my behavior. In the midst of going through these challenges. So he says, if we go back to Colossians 1, he says, I want you people to be affected by the Word of God so that you would walk in a manner worthy to please Him, that He is well pleased. This is why I want the Word of God to have an effect upon your life, so that you'll know the smile of God. As you go to work, does God smile upon you? It's work. Yeah. But you represent Him. And is He smiling? In the conversations that you engaged in, is God smiling? Do you really believe that God hears everything you say? Then is your words Does your words? Are they are they affected by the word of God? What you say, how you say it. When you're in the home, while pleasing to God, because the word of God has had effect upon your life when you're at church, word of he wants God to smile upon you. As he sees you. And oftentimes we lose sight of that reality, don't we? We lose sight because God is unseen. We tend to be more men pleasers than we are God pleasers. Right. Oftentimes, we're more concerned about what you think about me than I am about what God thinks about me. Yesterday, I was someplace. And. Three or four of us there together and nobody knew who I was. And so there was this conversation going on that was quite vulgar. And finally, one of the people looked up and says, who are you anyway? This is after this vulgarity has come out of the mouth. And I said, you really want to know who I am? And she said, yeah. And I said, well, let me introduce myself. I'm Pastor Walden. And her boyfriend, Oh, man, I can't believe you talk like that in front of him. And I said, what's the difficulty in talking in front of me that way? Well, you're a pastor, you're a man of God. This is conversation. And I said, well, let me ask you this. Do you believe God hears everything? Yeah, well, don't you think he heard that conversation? Well, yeah. Then why are you so concerned about offending me? And not offending him. And she looked at me and she says, because I'm standing before you. And I see you. What an open door. Because I looked at her and I said, one day you'll stand before Him. Now think about that. One day you will stand before Him and see Him. I will never, never give a final judgment to your life. He will. And though this young lady and young man were both unconverted and got the opportunity to serve Christ before them, invite them to church. We'll see if they show up, find out what happens. If you do see them, don't say, oh, you're the ones with the vulgar. Don't do that. All right. But as I think about it, isn't that often how many of us live? with a greater concern of not offending somebody than we are of not offending God, but being pleasing in His sight. Paul says, I want you to be affected by the Word of God because I want you to be a people that are well pleasing to God, that He will smile upon as He sees how you live in your various aspects of life. And then notice what Paul does. Someone will say, well, what does it mean? What does it really look like to live in a way that's pleasing to God, in a way that honors his name? What does that look like? Well, Paul sets before us some four different things here. He says, number one, he says, here's what it looks like. Bearing fruit in every good work. Bearing fruit in every good work. You're bearing fruit in your life. Fruit of good works. We're all saved by God's grace through faith alone. The only way a man is saved is by God's grace through faith alone. But where the grace of God is at work, there's a very clear purpose. And that purpose is that we would be a people who do good works. Who do good works. Isn't that what Ephesians 2.9 says? For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Now, you know, I know the arguments and the tensions. You know, somebody says, Pastor, you talked about good works this morning. Nobody is saved by good works. Well, I understand that. I've said that. I trust I've said it clearly. But if the grace of God is operative in your life, it will be followed by good works. And Paul says, as you're pleasing to God, it will be manifested in your good works. The fruit that you bear. Secondly, he says, another thing is you're increasing in your knowledge of God. You're growing in God. You're getting to know Him better. You're not satisfied with simply the status quo, but you want to grow in your relationship to Him. Are you growing in God? The older we get, it's not that we level out. We ought to be continually growing in God, in our relationship with Him. J. F. Packer, in his book Knowing God, has a section in which he talks about the benefits of growing in God. And he says he has three different sections. I can't read it all to you, but he says those who know God have great energy for God. The more you get to know God, the more energy you have for God. Secondly, he says those who know God have great thoughts of God. You understand who God is and you have great thoughts of him. Thirdly, those who know God show great boldness for God. Show great boldness for Him. He's worth living for. The more I know my God, the more I want to be bold for His cause. I think I said there were three, there's four. Those who know God have great contentment in God. Great contentment in God. So Paul says, we ought to be a people that are growing in God. knowing him better. So I have this out, by the way, the Men to Men. We just finished the one book and we're probably this month going to start another one, which is probably going to be Knowing God. So if you haven't read this book, I've read it two or three times. You can't read this book enough. But anyway, so Men to Men, I think we'll be doing this Knowing God together in the months to come. Excellent little book. Third thing he says is that you'll be strengthened So as to manifest endurance and patience. He said, you'll be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the abstaining of steadfastness. And patience, boy, it's easy to it's easy to grow weary, isn't it? Start to faint. Get lazy. Your relationship with God becomes dull. And here Paul says, I don't want to see that with any of you. I want to see you finish well. I want to see you persevering. And He'll give you the power as you're in His Word. It'll be a means by which He will give you the power to hang in there. Not to quit. Because the more you're in His Word, the more you know, you know what? God's still in control. God is still in control. The more you're in His Word, the more you realize God is doing everything for good, for my good. The more you're in His Word, the more you know He's got a plan for me and He's carrying it out. And the more you're in His Word, the more you know what? This isn't home. This isn't home. There's a glory that's yet to be revealed. And so he says, you'll be found as a people who are steadfast and patient as you wait for his return. And then fourthly, he says, the fourth description of that which is pleasing and worthy of God is that you'll be joyfully giving thanks to the Father. You have a spirit of thanksgiving to God, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. You know, as rough as it gets down here, as challenging as it as challenging as it may be. There's something more glorious that is yet to come. Do you believe that? We get so used to this world and we even become very comfortable. I do. I become very comfortable in this world. That I lose sight of what is yet to be revealed. And to think that that's part of my inheritance and how undeserving I am of it ought to give me a thankful heart. And so here's Paul's prayer. He prays that we would be filled with the knowledge of God's will so that we would please Him. And by that, that we would be a people who are bearing fruit, who are growing in our knowledge, that we would be a people who are strengthened by His might to be steadfast, and that we'd be joyfully giving thanks to God. Well, may God help us. I mean, these are fairly simple points and very basic points, but I trust will encourage us as we live here in this world waiting for that glory that is yet to be revealed. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for giving us this time and we pray that you would help us to be a people who truly hunger after your word. And Father, may we be diligent and may we be consistent in being in your word, that we might know your will, and that, Father, by your grace we would act upon what your word has to say in every part of our lives. Father, help us to know more about you. Help us to love you more. Help us to be more zealous for your kingdom. And help us, Father, to be patient even as we wait for that inheritance which is ours in Christ Jesus. So Father, encourage your people this morning and use this for their good and your glory as we ask all these things in Christ's name. Amen.