Colossians 1:9 &10
I have heard these verses several times in the last week or so - at the conference we were at in Canmore and in a devotional book that took 3 or 4 daily readings to unpack the truths.  And so here are a few thoughts I've had as God is obviously repeating for me to hear!
"And 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..."
Just above this passage, in verse 4, Paul says that they (he and his ministry partners) had "heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints."  So Paul repeats this phrase, that they have heard these good reports and have not ceased to pray for the believers at Colossae.  It would seem that the believers were doing well, with a good reputation.  So why would Paul feel the need to pray for them so fervently?
Because Paul knew the challenges of following through with the profession of faith in Christ Jesus.  It is one thing to begin with fresh faith and enthusiasm; it is another to be disciplined and mature when life gets difficult or others oppose your decision to be a Christian.
What did Paul pray for the Colossians?
"...to be filled with the knowledge of His will" ~ Life is full of decisions.  Big, small, significant or trivial.  To be able to know God's will for my own personal life, the affairs of my family, my business, or other areas of responsibility is imperative and vital.  There is nothing that touches me, or you, that is insignificant to our Heavenly Father.
And how does Paul pray for this request?
"...in all spiritual wisdom and understanding" ~ this means that all of the details of our life are spiritual.  Our finances, our health, our relationships and our everyday activities are all of great spiritual concern and call for wisdom and understanding.  We don't live our lives in compartments, even though we in the western cultures do tend to look at religion and the rest of life as unrelated.  This is so NOT true!  Our Christian faith affects everything we do, or at least it really needs to in order to be genuine and sincere.
In fact, Paul expands on this in the next part of verse 10:
"...so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him" ~ To please the Lord, to live a life that is worthy to be identified with the Lord Jesus Christ, we do need to pray for wisdom.  James chapter 1 also encourages us to ask God for wisdom, because we will find we are lacking the knowledge we need to live right.  Proverbs is full of admonitions to seek wisdom and to avoid foolishness.
"...bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God"~ Paul's prayer included asking God that these believers would bear fruit in every good work.  In reading 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul also writes to that group of believers how to live as Christians and function in their church and faith community.  He describes the types of things that should be part of worship and that which is inappropriate for worship.  He expounds on the gifts of the Spirit and how people can minister one to another in the body of Christ.  But smack dab in the middle of these instructions, Paul writes chapter 13, which is known as the "love chapter".  Why?  Because no ministry, no great worship services or amazing outreach strategies will be effective if there is no LOVE!  And cross-referencing to Galatians 5:22-23, Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, which LOVE is the first one mentioned.  These two passages give a well-rounded picture of what fruit is, what genuine divine love is.
Our way of serving God through good works must be done in a spiritually fruitful way.  Our attitude in serving needs to match up with Christ's attitude, or it will be a clanging cymbal.  It will not please the Lord, nor will it reach others if we lack the fruit of the Spirit.  Serving just to get the job done or because no one else is doing certain tasks is not a fruitful approach.  Taking on ministry roles or responsibilities to be noticed or to get recognition is also a dangerous motive.  It is well worth our time to study and meditate on these Scripture passages and check in with the Lord on our attitudes.
And "the knowledge of God?"  ~ Our greatest desire, our ultimate goal and prize is to know God.  That's why Jesus came to save us, to bring us into a relationship with the Father.  Increasng which means we must continue to learn and grow and explore and discover who God is.  Our whole lifetime will be spent getting to know the eternal, mysterious, invisible and all-wise Creator and Redeemer.  Paul wanted the Colossians to be disciples in the true sense, constantly learning and becoming like their Master, Jesus.
One major take-away I received from reading these verses over and over was the call to pray like Paul.  I am challenged to pray for others with this fervency and depth.  Not just "God bless so and so..." but to follow the pattern of Paul's prayers here and in other letters he wrote.  
I hope you have been impacted by these Scriptures as much as I have.
Have a great Sunday!