A Timeless Prayer for Our Children and Ourselves

“For this reason 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” (Colossians 1:9).

[Word Study]

Fill:

Pleroo: to fill. Transitively, to fill, as a net with fish (Mt 13:48), as a house with a perfumed smell (Jn 12:3); to fill up as a valley (Lk 3:5), or a measure (Mt 23:32);, fill up, supply (Php 4:19); to fulfill, complete . . . .to fully satisfy . . . .

Knowledge:

Epignosis: Recognition, detection, awareness, observation . . . Epignosis stands not in contrast to knowledge (gnosis) but to ignorance . . . not an improvement upon gnosis, but in contrast to agnoia, ignorance. . . .

Will:

Thelema: will, desire, inclination, choice, determination. The suffix -ma conveys the notion of result; in this case, that which results from the exercise of the will. Hence, thelema is the actual thing willed . . . It means, then, will, not to be conceived as a demand, but as an expression or inclination of pleasure; a want or desire which pleases and creates joy. When it denotes God’s will, it signifies His gracious disposition toward something. . . . Nowhere is it used to designate the commands of God . . . .

(All definitions from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible)

I’m a mom.

Those three words changed my life twenty-five years ago. I knew having a baby would change my world, but I had no idea how much becoming a mother would change my heart–how much impact it would have on my faith. Becoming a mommy sent me to my knees. I needed to pray A LOT!

When they were younger, I prayed for my kids to love each other. I prayed for them to sleep. And I’ve prayed countless prayers for health and safety and _____________ whatever they needed that day (like to do well on a test.) And I know that those prayers are okay, but I also know that they aren’t eternal. Their test grades won’t matter when they stand before the throne of God and all His glory.

[bctt tweet=”My kids’ test grades won’t matter when they stand before the throne of God and all His glory. ” username=”wordsbyandylee”]

That’s why I really love to pray prayers straight from the Bible like this one in Colossians. I find that this prayer really became relevant when my kids turned 18. That’s when mine started searching for their own faith. So, that’s when I got desperate and a little afraid, and I needed divine assistance to form my mommy petitions.

How could a parent go wrong praying for God to “fully satisfy” our kids with the knowledge of Him? I pray from Colossians that they would be “aware” of Him and “recognize” His presence and “His gracious disposition toward them”–the gracious disposition found in Christ. And I pray that they would gain this understanding through the Spirit.

It’s a wonderful prayer for anybody . . . even for ourselves.

Chewing on . . . Being filled with the knowledge of God’s mercy like a room filled with perfume and praying this for others.

[This was a sneak peek of my new project, a 365 day devotional called the Bite of Bread.]

Who’s on your prayer list who could use this divine prayer? Leave a comment!