9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Paul was a man of prayer, and the prayers that he recorded in Scripture are filled with wonderful theology. His prayers are not for the ability to pay the cable bill or for some minor annoyance to be eliminated. His prayers consisted of deep longings for great spiritual growth and maturity. This first part of Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers is for a filling. Paul wants them to be actively filled with the knowledge of God’s will. Have you ever wondered what God’s will was for your life? I know I have! As we examine this prayer over the next several days we will discover what God’s will is for our lives. Paul says our minds must be engaged in this process. We must be filled with this knowledge. We can’t fill ourselves. God must do the filling. We must be willing to let Him fill us. This is God’s work in our lives. He does the pouring, we do the receiving. We can’t seek God on our own and expect to get this kind of knowledge. We will end up with a head knowledge that is dry and detached, having little to do with our hearts. And this knowledge is an active, experiential knowledge. Until you have been hit in the face with a pie, you don’t have experiential knowledge of the event. It is all academic. But once you have been hit, then you KNOW what it is like. This is the kind of knowledge the Lord wants us to have. He wants us to experience Him. This happens through spiritual not natural wisdom and understanding. Again, this is God’s work in us. This kind of wisdom and understanding are spiritual. There is a natural wisdom and understanding that is available. Paul wants them to move to a whole other level. He wants them to have spiritual wisdom and understanding. Are you willing to let the Lord move you to a whole new level of living?
The Arnold Journey 