1 MAY 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional
“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 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.” Col. 1:9-10
When you pray, do you primarily list your needs and the needs of others? Does it resemble a shopping or Christmas list? Many of us rattle off a list of things we desire and of course “to bless” us or our family and friends. Maybe we are pleading for God to get us out of a jam or trial. Those may not be bad things present to the Lord, but there may be a more fitting conversation to have.
Paul gives us some insight into his prayers for himself and others. When praying for himself, he is asking for boldness from God to be faithful and to share the good news with those that he meets on his journey. When Paul prays for others, he desires that God would make them into the person that He desires. There is an expected hope that people reach spiritual maturity.
To have ‘complete knowledge’ is to become mature in this life to the will of God and understand how to live in it. He doesn’t want people to just go through life, but to grow through life. If you are mature, then you will know how to please God and be filled with joy no matter where you live on earth. You can live under harsh governments and immoral and hostile societies, and various socio-economic conditions. You can be fruitful no matter where you are planted.
When you pray, leave that Christmas list in the drawer. God is not Santa. He is more concerned with your development and holiness than your happiness. You will find true joy when you start asking God to make you into the person He desires and start obeying what He has already written in His Word.
Are you praying to God for stuff or your maturity?
Reading Plan: Psalm 41, 52; Job.23:1-12; Col. 1:1-14; Luke 6:1-11
No comments:
Post a Comment