Reading: “We … desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” —Colossians 1:9

Christians often ask, “What is the will of God for my life?” This prayer reminds us that the will of God for our lives is that we should know His will. Some imagine the will of God to be like a special hidden code to be discerned only by those with great skill and understanding. Yet Paul’s prayer teaches that we can know His will if we would simply ask to be filled with the knowledge of His will.

God’s will for those who do not know His will is outlined in Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.” To know the will of God, we must do the will of God. And to do the will of God we need to be filled with the knowledge of His will. Included in this prayer must be diligent effort to seek God’s revealed will.

We discover His will in His Word, and only there. There alone do we have an all-sufficient and infallible guide, a lamp to our feet, a light unto our path. To be filled with the knowledge of the divine will should not only be the main burden of our daily prayers but the principal quest of our lives.

This prayer then is for a better, fuller, closer knowledge of what God requires of us as it is revealed already in the Bible. Without that we can neither please nor glorify Him, nor shall we escape the innumerable pitfalls in our path. Lord, help me today to know your will and then to do your will!

“In the first place, we must not expect God to reveal His will to us unless we desire to know that will and intend to do that will. Knowledge of God’s will and the performance of that will go together. We are apt to desire to know God’s will so that we may decide whether we will obey or not. Such an attitude is disastrous.”  —unknown