Recently, I had some quiet time with Jesus on a retreat and journaled personally about the importance of prayer in relating it to my own life and a verse out of Colossians 1. I feel it important to be vulnerable at times in the context of ministry and this is my motivation in sharing this entry with you. I don’t have all of life figured out and I certainly don’t have it all together, but hopefully we can learn from one another as it relates to our relationship with God and being vulnerable. Enjoy the entry and feel free to share your thoughts below…
Colossians 1:9 – 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,…
I’ve got to say that there is so much to unpack here in this verse alone. I tried and attempted to look at the rest of the paragraph, too, but there it is just so rich in detail. I love it! I love the heart and the attitude behind prayer that is on display here. Continual and perpetual prayer is so essential for the great things of God to come about. If one wants to pursue excellence, and I do, prayer life has to be key. Things need to be bathed in prayer and brought into His presence for a complete saturation.
I know that there have been many times in my life where I have tried to do the work of God without the anointing and prepared prayer to go into a ministry event. My mind and my being haven’t been ready to handle the upcoming spiritual events. I know that without prayer and attempting to do the excellence and incredible things of God means resting on self and established patterns for ministry and life. To even unpack this further, my spiritual walk is then personally compromised, temptation seems to get the best of me, and when there is ministry success I start getting prideful and believing that I shouldn’t lean on God for perpetual support, care, and deep-rooted need.
It’s a crazy situation, but without prayer, we become exceedingly prideful and filled with all sorts of nasty ugliness. I’m in a place now, thank God, where I don’t want to be attempting to do things on my own and establishing them within my own patterns and traditions. My desire to stay fresh to the things and the workings of God. The last part of this verse really sums it up by declaring that it starts with knowledge and spiritual wisdom. These two qualities deal directly with a mind renewal that needs to take place. I want to be filled with these qualities. I want to understand that it is Jesus who needs to be on the scene and already is with Christ dwelling from within my heart, but my acknowledgement of surrender comes from me understanding and yielding my will to the fact that His presence is already there.
There is something relishing about this idea. It captivates me and fills me with all sorts of wonder and awe. It’s so simple, this idea of returning to a deep prayer life and being rooted in all knowledge and spiritual wisdom. In a sense, I get it with my mind and understand the importance of these practices with Jesus, but deep down in my heart it takes time to develop and penetrate through the cold places of hardness. The good news is that God is working on me. I’ve got to believe that He is doing some incredible things deep down and prayer makes me tune into His incredible work.
May today be filled with all sorts of prayer and thoughts that are centered on Jesus being the cornerstone of everything that my life is about in the first place. May prayer be part of my DNA and may I be in a place where I can have the attitude of praying without ceasing. As the work of God is done in and through my life, with ministry happening on an ongoing basis, may I not lean or rest on self, but on God through the heart of prayer!
For the Kingdom, Jay
