Prayer For A Worthy Walk
Colossians 1:9-10
"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"
A Great Lack
Alas, how sadly has the standard been relaxed! How little is now heard, even in centres of orthodoxy, of ‘walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing’! How very few today are being informed that God requires them to keep their hearts with all diligence, and to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Will not the Lord yet say to many an unfaithful occupant of the modern pulpit, ‘Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right’ (Job 42:7)? No wonder the churches are in such a low state of spirituality. But the failure of those in the pulpit does not excuse those in the pew. The individual still has access to God’s Word, and even if there were none others left on earth who respect it, he is responsible to be regulated by its elevated and exacting teachings.
Christian reader, whatever others do or do not, see to it that you turn Colossians 1:10 into daily prayer, and strive to translate it into practice, for the glory of God and your own good. If you are careless about your walk, and indifferent as to whether the state of your heart is pleasing or displeasing to the Lord, His ear will be closed to your prayers! The Scriptures are explicit on that fact: ‘Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight’ (1 John 3:22). That cannot be labeled ‘legalistic’, for those are the words of the Holy Spirit. It is not order of things which divine holiness has established. God has appointed an inseparable connection between the acceptableness of our conduct and that of our petitions. If we would have His ear then we must attend to His voice. We cannot expect God to grant our requests while we ignore what He requires of us. Not that our obedience ingratiates us into God’s favour; but it is a necessary adjunct to our receiving favours at His hand. We must delight ourselves in the Lord if we would have Him grant us the desires of our heart (Psa. 37:4).
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