Transformation - Day 4

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,  who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. - 1 Colossians 1:9-14

Paul returns to the topic of prayer and I am again convicted by how much he is praying ("we have not stopped praying . . .") and what he prays for - not for medical healing, for finances/jobs, for safety, comfort . . .  rather  "we ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will . . .  spiritual wisdom and understanding."

Knowing God's will.  I really want to know AND FOLLOW God's will.  I want everyone at my church to know and follow God's will.  The results are mind-blowing.

• living this way honors and pleases God, 
• it produces every kind of good fruit (love, joy, peace, patience . . .)
• it brings greater intimacy with God ("know God better and better"

the second part of Paul's prayer - that the Colossians be strengthened with God's power for endurance, patience, thankfulness and joy.  I want more of God's power in my life.  I need to remain connected to Christ my source.

I am amazed at how often I come back to the life verse for The Vine. John 15:5, Jesus' words - "If you remain in me, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing."  My greatest task is to abide in Jesus.  Everything else flows from him.  I can accomplish some things in my own effort, even do some good, but none of it is sustainable.

And Paul uses the same language - intimacy with God, fruitfulness . . .  it starts with a prayer life that seeks God's will.

Father, I pray right now for those you have entrusted to my shepherding.  As we seek to become the faith community that you long for us to be, help me to stay connected to our Source, Jesus Christ, who is both the revealer of God's will and the power to keep me on the path.  Help us all to hunger for and seek your will, on the deepest level.  And as we hunger, feed us your good and perfect and pleasing will.  Then give us the courage and strength to be obedient.  May your people be filled with joy, always thanking You for the life you have given us, the freedom we have in Christ, the forgiveness of our sins, and the inheritance you've shared with us.  Father, transform us into the image of your Son.  Amen