Prayer Cards - Unceasingly For Spiritual Growth

 

Colossians 1:9

For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it,

do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you

might be filled with the knowledge of His will

in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

    In the beginning of this book Paul is writing to the young church in Colosse, which is being built by Epaphras, commending them for the good report he has received of them. The 'we' refers to Timothy, who traveled and ministered with Paul while he was in Roman custody. 

    Though Paul had never met the saints in Colosse, their reputation as faithful servants of Christ, reached his ears. Even as he writes to encourage them in their fruitfulness, he also tells them how he and Timothy are praying for them:

    *Unceasingly

    *Filled with the knowledge of His will

        >In all wisdom 

        >Spiritual understanding

    Are we praying for each other in this way?  Unceasingly. Always. Without end.  Watchful. Alert to danger.

    Are we encouraging saints we have never met, and may never meet, to grow in wisdom and spiritual understanding? 

    Paul praises them for their obvious belief in God and the evidence of said belief in God: faith, hope and love, which are the hallmarks of any born-again Christian. For their faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives and souls. 

    For their abounding love to all saints, not just the ones they know. For the love they show to the people around them, who are not saints, yet are being shown the true love of Christ by the Colosse church. [John 13:34 {agape}]. It is a mark of the grace of God that we are able to love the people around us, even if they are not Christians. For God loved the world, even when the world did not love Him back. [John 3:16-18] 

    For the hope they profess to others regarding the gospel of salvation. [Titus 2:3]. It is our faith in Christ, and our love for saints everywhere, that keeps our focus on our hope of heaven.  

    And then, he lets them know that he and Timothy are praying for them. Such encouragement! Someone they knew of but did not know personally was praying for them unceasingly! That's empowering to the soul of the saint. 

    But then he writes that he is praying that they would become more fruitful. First, that they would be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Even now every saint must first be filled with the knowledge of God's will so that we can obey God's will. The Word of God never changes, but the transforming power of God's Spirit will change us if we let Him, if we know God's will for us. [2 Peter 3:18].

    Secondly, Paul and Timothy are praying that this church would be filled with spiritual wisdom and spiritual understanding. This is vital to a saint's spiritual growth. It is not enough to know The Word, for many false prophets can quote Scripture but they speak it to their advantage, not to the increase of the kingdom of God. There are Biblical scholars who claim to know 'secrets' hidden The Word that cannot be revealed to those who do not believe as they believe. 

    Spiritual wisdom and spiritual understanding are not spirituality; spirituality has nothing to do with God or Christ Jesus or The Holy Spirit. Spirituality is evil and against God and His Administration. Spiritual wisdom and understanding are sought after by God's saints to increase God's kingdom. 

    Spiritual wisdom is discernment: having a God-given knowledge about who is telling the Truth and who is not; who is a faithful servant of Christ and who is not; what is Truth and what is not. [Proverbs 4:5-7; 2:10-11; Ephesians 1:17] 

    Spiritual understanding is a working knowledge of The Word of God. [Colossians 2:2-3]. It is a basic building block of a Christian's faith. We can memorize Scripture but unless we put what we are learning into action, it is just a block of information we keep sequestered in our memory bank. 

    We should desire, as Paul did, for all Christians, all saints, everywhere to be filled with Spirit-filled knowledge, Spirit-filled wisdom and Spirit-filled understanding. Let us pray for that to be fulfilled in us and in each other, unceasingly. 

LET US PRAY - Steven Curtis Chapman 

Today's Word -- Inherent Nature

 Proverbs 2:6 

For the LORD gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 

We are all born with an inherent knowledge of good and evil thanks to Adam and Eve's decision to disobey God. "No" is one of the first words we learn to say after we learn our caregivers names, "Mama", "Dada", or in my son Brian's case, "Dani" (his sister). And we learn when to say 'No': when we want something we can't or shouldn't have and when we want to do something we should or shouldn't do. It's our nature. 

The same logic is applied when we become born-again Christians. We learn what is good and what is evil. We learn to walk in the Spirit. We learn to talk in the Spirit. We learn to read God's Word with wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Especially when we have good leaders to lead us and guide us through God's Word; leaders we look up to and find ourselves following after. 

As this verse in Proverbs 2:6 states, wisdom, knowledge and understanding come from God. And it is to God we must turn to in order to receive each one and apply them to our lives as His children. No longer are we under sin's command, now we are under God's command. And His command is love. Our new nature is very different from our old nature. Before, we always said 'No' and justified according to our desires. Now, we say 'Yes' and are justified by grace according to God's desires for us. We live in His love and can only grow and thrive in His love as long as we remain in His love, His Word. 

Wisdom is Applied. 

Knowledge is Gained.

Understanding is Growth.

Our new nature seeks after God in His Word and in prayer with Him; that's how we hear from Him. This new inherent nature is through Christ living in us: we are new creations in Him. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 

We are new creations in Christ when we believe that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, that He died on the cross in our place, rose from the dead and walked out of the grave into newness of life and is seated at the right hand of the Father Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Heart of Discerning

 

HEART OF DISCERNMENT
Proverbs 18:15
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks it out.
Who has the heart of discerning?

                                               The believer. (Romans 10:9)

                                                          What is the heart? 

             The soul: our will, our attitude, our intelligence/intellect.                                             (Romans 10:10)

How do we acquire knowledge?
From God. (Daniel 1:17).

                              And through spending time with God in prayer and                                        daily Bible reading. (Deuteronomy 4:29;                   Psalm 27:8; Psalm 119:2; Isaiah 55:6; Jeremiah 29:13;

1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:3)

Who are the wise?
They who fear the LORD (Proverbs 9:10).

                      How do we hear this knowledge we are seeking?

Through the hearing of the Word, whether we read our Bibles out loud or when we hear the full Truth of the Word preached in our churches. (Romans 10:17)

--

Crown Him with Many Crowns

CROWN HIM with MANY CROWNS

CROWN of LIFE

Revelation 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer : behold , the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

James 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried , he shall receive the crown of life, which The Lord hath promised to them that love Him. 

2 Timothy 2;12  If we suffer , we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us:

CROWN of LOVING-KINDNESS

Psalm 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;

Psalm 63:3 Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish , but have everlasting life.

Hosea 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.

Jeremiah 32:17-19 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:Thou shewest loving-kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name, Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

CROWN of GLORY & HONOR

Psalm 8:4,5  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.

CROWN of ANOINTING OIL

Leviticus 21:12  Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD. (regarding the high priest)

CROWN of KNOWLEDGE

Proverbs 14:18 The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. (all of Proverbs is a discourse on wisdom, defining what is wise and what is foolish. Prudent means "mentally putting together". [love that], which is the definition of learning. Therefore, the prudent person is the one who learns wisdom and puts it into action)

CROWN of RIGHTEOUSNESS

2 Timothy 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which The Lord, The Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.

CROWN of ROYALTY (Grace & Favor)

Esther 2:17  And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. 

CROWN of GLORY (the LORD IS)

Isaiah 28:5  In that day shall The LORD of hosts be for a Crown of Glory, and for a Diadem of Beauty, unto the residue of his people. (The Lord is our Crown of Glory. How cool is that?)

CROWN of SOUL WINNER

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

Proverbs 11:30  The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

("dearly" implies at great cost) Jude 3 says we are to 'earnestly contend' Ephesians 6:12 we 'wrestle against' 

We are not passive Christians. We are fighters. We fight for the salvation of  our families and friends. They are our crown, also. Our knees bow only to The Most High God and none other. We fight our battles on our knees with our hands clenched in prayer; our hearts are set on the deliverance of our moms and dads, sisters and brothers; strangers, friends and enemies. We are immovable in our desire to see the Salvation of the Lord reach those who are lost and wandering in the darkness of sin. And we encourage each other in this goal. 

At great cost. What is it worth to you to see someone saved? It cost Jesus His will and His life. He surrendered His will and His life, that we might have salvation. How much are you willing to give up? With Jesus it was 

                                                           ALL OR NOTHING