Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom from God
God wants you to be the best at whatever He has tasked you to do. He wants you to use the resources He has set aside for you. He wants to use His great power to help you to accomplish the task. This is what Paul wrote in Ephesians 1.18-19. From earlier studies, you know that God’s Holy Spirit leads you (Romans 8.14) to know what you do not know about your work and passionate interests and about what He exemplified for you through Jesus (John 14.26, 5.19, 12.49). The Holy Spirit knows God’s mind and His thoughts about you performing the task He has assigned (1 Corinthians 2.11). In Colossians 1.9-12, Paul described an upward spiral of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that will lead you to ever greater productivity and satisfaction in your daily life.
Aligning your prayers for yourself with God’s prayers for you.
- Verse 9 expresses Paul’s prayers for Christ-followers in Colossae. Personalize it as God’s prayer for you, as it was for them. Notice what God prays for you.
- Since the day you accepted God’s offer of eternal life and salvation from His wrath to come upon all who do not accept John 14.6, Jesus has not ceased to pray for you (Hebrews 7.25). That reality should comfort and strengthen you greatly!
- Jesus prays that you may be filled with the deep and clear knowledge of God’s will, with enlightened understanding leading to His wisdom guiding your daily paths.
- What is knowledge? King David taught his son Solomon the beginning point, which Solomon taught his children in Proverbs 1.7-8. Notice that reverence for God is the first step in knowledge; everything that you could ever know comes from this Source. And, God wants to impart such knowledge to you (Jeremiah 9.23-24; Proverbs 24.3-4).
- What is understanding? Understanding is Godly discernment, comprehension, and interpretation of all things. From the last reference, you see that God also wants you to understand Him (Isaiah 55.8-9, 5.20-21)! Jeremiah 7.23 gives good reason for this.
- What is wisdom? Spiritual wisdom is comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God (Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon). John 14.26 implies that His ways even include your work and passionate interests. His ways will bring you success (Ephesians 1.19)!
- Solomon’s desired result for his children and the people he led was Proverbs 1.2-4. America, in her economic and eduction systems, need leaders with this result in mind!
- Jesus said to ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7.7-8) for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from God! He also said to believe that you have received it when you ask (Matthew 21.22; Isaiah 7.9b). Paul reminded believers to be thankful (Philippians 4.6-7) for God’s answers.
So that….
- You align with God’s prayers for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to impact your daily life and those whose paths you cross, as Paul stated in Colossians 1.10-11.
- Your daily goal must be to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (John 17.18, 21).
- Your goal is to please Him in all things (Psalm 119.11).
- Your goal is to bear fruit in every good work (John 14.12; Ephesians 3.10).
- Your goal is to steadily grow and increase in the knowledge of God with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition (Amplified Bible) (2 Peter 3.18).
- Accomplishing these goals will result in the invigoration of your power according to the might of His glory, leading to…
- your exercising every kind of endurance and perseverance and forbearance,
- giving thanks to the Father Who qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints of Light (John 1.5) because of John 14.1-6. Isaiah 64.4!
Spiral up your knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from God and live Proverbs 3.13-18! Notice the same promises in Deuteronomy 28.1-14.
Praise God!!! Copyrighted (c) by Maurice L. Painter, 2014. www.sozoclass.com