Colossians 1:9

thanksgiving passes into prayer that they may will and walk with god

9. For this cause In view of the whole happy report from Colossæ.

we also The "also" means that the news of the loving life at Colossæ was metby the loving prayer of Paul and his friends.

since the day, &c. The phrase used above of the Colossians, Colossians 1:6. This (as Lightfoot remarks) gives a point to the "also."

do not cease to pray So Ephesians 1:16; and see Acts 20:31. An "affectionate hyperbole" (Ellicott); and such hyperboles are absolutely truthful, between hearts in perfect sympathy. On St Paul's prayers, see above on Colossians 1:3.

to desire The word defines the more general idea conveyed by "pray" just above. "Prayer" (in the Greek, as with us) may include many directions of thought in worship; "desire" fixes the direction, that of petition. On the verbs used for praying, asking, and the like, in the Greek Scriptures, see Grimm's Greek-Eng. Lex. to N.T.(ed. Thayer), under αἰτεῖν.

" Desire," as very often in the English Bible, here means "make request" (A.V.). See e.g. 2 Kings 4:28; Psalms 27:4; Matthew 16:1; Act 7:46; 2 Corinthians 8:6; 1 John 5:15. This meaning is still not uncommon.

filled A word and thought often occurring in similar connexions in St Paul. Cp. Romans 15:13-14; Romans 15:29; 2 Corinthians 7:4; Ephesians 3:19; Ephesians 5:18; Philippians 1:11; Philippians 2:2; Philippians 4:19, below, Colossians 2:10; 2 Timothy 1:4. Nothing short of the total of what God can and will give to the saints satisfies his inspired desire.

knowledge Epignôsis;more than gnôsis. See above on Colossians 1:6.

of his will Cp. Ephesians 5:17, and our note there. "Thou sweet, beloved will of God," [79] is meant by the Gospel to be the Christian's always underlying and ruling thought and choice. And such an attitude of soul, if genuinely taken, will lead direct to an active enquiry "whatthe will of the Lord is." Mme. Guyon, on this verse (La Sainte Bible) writes characteristically and truly: "All perfection consists in doing the will of God … the works which seem greatest are nothing if they are not in the will of God.… The more the soul does the will of God in all things, the more it knows God."

[79] See the hymn beginning, Liebwerther, süsser Gottes-Wille, in Tersteegen's Blumengârtlein; translated in Hymns of Consecration and Faith, No. 257.

spiritual As due to the gift and teaching of the Spirit. The adjective should be placed before "wisdom" (as R.V.), qualifying both it and "understanding."

understanding A narrower and more precise word than "wisdom." The man spiritually "wise" brings that characteristic habit of thought to bear on special questions, and spiritually "understands" them. Cp. for a partial parallel Ephesians 1:17. And for the Apostle's desire that his converts should (under the Holy Spirit's guidance) "think for themselves," see 1 Corinthians 14:20; Ephesians 4:14.