GODLY THINKING
Opening Prayer
Mighty God, knowing you is the only reward I ever seek. I praise you and I love you.
Read COLOSSIANS 1:9-14
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[a] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[b] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:9 Or all spiritual wisdom and understanding
- Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘God be in my head, and in my understanding; God be in mine eyes, and in my looking; God be in my mouth, and in my speaking.’1
Think Further
After giving thanks for this church, Paul now prays for the believers. All too often, prayers for others dive in with a list of concerns. How differently Paul prays. He begins by asking God to fill their heads so that they will know his will by all spiritual wisdom and understanding (v 9). Everything else in the prayer depends on this first filling up of the whole of their minds with God’s way of thinking. Get this right and everything else follows. All spiritual wisdom (v 9) means discerning more of God’s big purposes in Jesus’ world mission and our purpose within it. Unlike conventional wisdom gained from the world around, this intelligence is revealed by God to those who seek his will. Allied to spiritual wisdom is understanding, which involves thinking intelligently about practical application.
God longs for people to live intelligently by his wisdom, for then behavior is in line with his will, worthy of the Lord (v 10). Godly thinking leads to godly living. Wise Christian lives express good news by bearing fruit and doing good, marked by qualities such as endurance (v 11): not gritting our teeth to get through trouble, but depending on God’s strength to overcome with heads held high. Patience (v 11) responds to demanding situations with God’s grace under pressure. None of this happens without spiritual wisdom. Typically, in this letter full of thanksgiving, another mark of living in God’s will is joyfully giving thanks to the Father (v 12) for his rescue by Jesus, bringing us from darkness to light. Godly thinking always remembers to live within God’s big picture of redemption. Someone said: ‘The brain is as strong as its weakest think!’ This whole prayer asks for God’s help to safeguard against ‘weak thinks’!
Apply
Slowly pray again the opening prayer and add its last lines: ‘God be in my heart, and in my thinking; God be at mine end, and at my departing.’
Closing prayer
Gracious Father, I ask for godly thinking which leads to godly living. I want to honor and please you as I journey through life.
1 From the Sarum Primer, 1538
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