Soulfood

Paul Miller

14% of Paul’s letters are praying or writing about prayer.

Colossians 1 – Blessing to Thanksgiving to Asking to Worship

Paul’s letter is a result of months of prayer beforehand. Prayer is the glue that holds all of his teaching and preaching and living together. His living in the presence of the Triune God leads him to spontaneous prayer. His union with Christ drives him to pray! “Stop and pray!” “Stop and worship!”

Colossians 1:9-10

1. “…Asking that [all of] you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all Spiritual wisdom and understanding” -Knowledge of God’s will is a deep and abiding understanding of the revelation of Christ and all that he means for the universe and us. (Douglas Moo)

Christ is Lord of ALL knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is real truth. As a counselor we must remember what we know. We are good listeners but we bottle up truth. It is good not to judge but we should also love truth enough to find ways to speak truth lovingly. Example of Jack Miller to daughter Barbara: “I don’t want to take you to heaven as a beautiful memory.”

We have beautiful knowledge to share without fear. We can trust it. We must pray over how to speak these true things and how to wisely live them out. Things like loving our enemies or teaching sexual morality are beautiful truths we have to share. We must help each other talk about Scripture.

2. “…in all Spiritual wisdom and understanding…”

(s)piritual is vague and floaty

Spiritual wisdom is a personal gift from the Holy Spirit, customized for us to nourish our souls, encourage our spirits, and help us endure

3. “…wisdom and understanding”

Wisdom (hoknah) “what’s the truth about this situation? What truths apply?”

Understanding (binah) to separate or distinguish – “what do I do based on this truth?”

Praying. Waiting. Expecting. Watching.

4. “…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him; bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”

The goal is Christlikeness. The goal of counseling is to draw people to Christ. A problem that requires counseling is an opportunity to draw people in to formation after Christ.

Paul takes a problem, notes the negative, and prays for the positive – focusing exuberantly on what good can be when the prayer is answered

5. Prayer ignites the Trinity.

Ephesians 3:14-19 – praying to the Father that the Spirit will cause Christ to dwell in our hearts

Pray in a Trinitarian manner