Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard (1PAAI) of it, we have not ceased (1PPMI) to pray (PMPMPN) for you and to ask (PMPMPN) that you may be filled (2PAPS) with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding  (NASB: Lockman)

FOR THIS REASON ALSO SINCE THE DAY WE HEARD OF IT: Dia touto kai hemeis  kai hemeis, aph es hemeras ekousamen (1PAAI):

R Kent Hughes gives us some interesting background for this great Pauline prayer...

It is significant that Paul prayed for the Colossians' knowledge, because they were under siege by people who were telling them they needed a better knowledge, a gnosis. The Gnostics were teaching that Christ was a good place to begin, but that there was so much more they could know and experience if only they would incorporate the Gnostic system of passwords, rites, and initiations. Their superior, know-it-all air was intimidating, and some of the Colossians were made to feel they were lacking. What is more, the system, by promising a special understanding, appealed to the people's natural, elitist instinct. And some had fallen...The Gnostics' characteristic word for knowledge was gnosis. But Paul used the word epignosis as a reference to full knowledge for the Colossians.  (Preaching the Word – Colossians: The Supremacy of Christ.)

In the introductory section of Spurgeon's sermon (Colossians 1:9-10 Spiritual Knowledge: It's Practical Results) the prince of preachers observes that...

Paul felt encouraged by what he saw in the Colossian believers to pray to God to enrich them yet farther. It should be our desire that our best brethren should be better, and that those who are most like Jesus should be still more completely conformed to his image. We cannot more wisely show our love to our friends than by first acknowledging the grace, which is in them, and then by praying that God may give them more. Paul, as with an eagle eye, surveyed the church at Colosse, which he loved so well, and he noted that it was somewhat lacking in knowledge. The Colossian brotherhood differed considerably from the church at Corinth, which abounded in talent, and was enriched with all knowledge. The Colossians had fewer gifted brethren among them who could act as teachers, and, though this was no fault of theirs, it impoverished them in the matter of knowledge, and as Paul would not have them come behind in any desirable attainment, he therefore prayed for them that they might be filled with knowledge in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

If you read this epistle through, you will observe that Paul frequently alludes to knowledge and wisdom. To the point in which he judged the church to be deficient he turned his prayerful attention. He would not have them ignorant. He knew that spiritual ignorance is the constant source of error, instability, and sorrow; and therefore he desired that they might be soundly taught in the things of God. Not that they were destitute of saving knowledge already, for he says in the sixth verse that they “knew the grace of God in truth,” and that they had brought forth fruits meet for salvation; but saving knowledge, though it be the most essential attainment, is not the only knowledge which a Christian should seek after. He longs to be useful as well as to be safe. Being himself delivered out of darkness he strives to bring others into the marvelous light of grace.

Paul would have his brethren thoroughly furnished for sacred service, knowing the will of the Lord themselves, and able to teach others. He desired for them that they might possess comforting knowledge, strengthening knowledge, edifying knowledge, sanctifying knowledge, directing knowledge; so that they might be ready for all the trials, duties, and labors of life...

My first subject is The Great Value Of Intercessory Prayer; for as soon as Paul felt his heart burning with love to the saints at Colosse, and had heard of the work of the Spirit among them, he began to show his love by lifting up his heart in prayer for them. He did that for them which he knew would bless them.

Notice, that intercessory prayer is a very important part of the work of Christians for one another.

We are not sent into the world to live unto ourselves, but we are members of one body, and each member is expected to contribute to the health and the comfort of the whole. It is true we cannot all preach, but we can all pray; we cannot all distribute alms from our substance, but we can all offer prayer from our hearts. In temporal things we may not be able to enrich the church for lack of substance; but if we fail to bless the church by our prayers it will be for lack of grace.

Whatever you fail in, dearly beloved---and I pray that you may in nothing come behind---yet do not fail in prayer for all the saints, that every blessing may abound towards them.

Intercessory prayer is to be esteemed as an invaluable proof of love, and as the creator of more love. The man who will truly pray for me will certainly forgive me readily if I offend him; he will relieve me if I am in necessity; and he will be prepared to assist me if I am engaged in a service too hard for me. Give us your earnest prayers, and we know that we live in your hearts. How sweet it is to be permitted thus to manifest our love to one another! When our hand is palsied we can still pray; when our eye grows dim we can see to pray; when by sickness we are altogether laid aside we can still pray; and when we meet with cases in which we are unable to help, and yet are moved with sympathy for a brother, our sympathy can always find one open channel, for we can pray, and by prayer call in the aid of one whose help is effectual. Therefore, by your love to your Lord, and to all those who are in him, I beseech you abound in intercessory prayer, as the apostle did.

Intercessory prayer, again, is most valuable, because it is an infallible means of obtaining the blessings, which we desire for our friends. It is not in vain that we ask, for it is written, “Everyone that asketh receiveth.” It is not in vain that we intercede for others, for the Lord delights to answer such petitions. The unselfish devotion which pleads as eagerly for others as for itself is so pleasing to the Lord that he puts great honor upon it. If we desire any blessing for our friends our best course is to pray: even if we would have them to be filled with knowledge in all wisdom our safest course is to pray that it may be so. Of course, we must not forget to instruct them and to aid them in their own studies as far as lieth in our power, for every honest prayer supposes the use of all proper means; but the instruction which we offer will be of no service unless we first bring down the blessing of God upon it, that thereby our friends may be made willing to learn, and may receive the truth not as the word of man, but as from the Lord himself. None but spiritual teaching will nourish spiritual life. The Holy Ghost must teach divine truth to the heart, or it will never be truly known. Whatsoever thou wisely desirest for thy friend go about to get it for him, but hasten first to the throne of grace. If thou wouldst have thy friend converted, if thou wouldst have him strengthened, if thou wouldst have him taught of God, if thou wouldst have him quickened to a nobler life, and elevated to a higher consecration, do him this great service-take his case before the Lord in prayer; and in so doing thou hast gone the wisest way to work to enrich him.

IMMEDIATE PRAYER

Note, brethren, for I am keeping to my text closely, that such intercessory prayer will be all the more valuable if it is our immediate resort.

The apostle says,

“Since the day we heard it, we do not cease to pray for you.”

He began to pray at once. Whenever you perceive the work of the Spirit in any heart, pray at once, that the holy change may proceed with power. Whenever you discover any lack in a brother begin on the day you hear of it to pray that his lack may be supplied. There should be no delaying of prayer.

“He gives twice who gives quickly” is a human proverb, but I believe that when we pray speedily we shall often find that God in answering quickly gives us a double blessing.

Usually he shall win worldly riches who is the most diligent in the pursuit of them, and assuredly he shall be richest towards God who is most diligent in supplication. Linger not a minute, speed thee to the mercy-seat. Now is the accepted time; the Lord waits to be gracious to thee. The Lord indicates to thee what thy prayer shall be by the news, which thou hast just heard of thy friend; therefore, bring his case at once before the throne of grace. Divine providence has brought the needful subject for prayer under thy notice; therefore, this day begin to pray about it.

INCESSANT PRAYER

Our prayers will be all the more valuable if they are incessant as well as immediate. “We cease not,” said Paul, “to pray for you since the day we heard it.” “Oh,” says one, “was Paul always praying for the Colossians from the day he heard of their welfare? It may have been months and years; did he never cease to pray?” I answer, he was always praying for them in the sense which he explains: he adds, “and to desire.” Now, desire is the essence of prayer; in fact, desire is the kernel of prayer, and the vocal expressions, which we call by the name of prayer are often but its shell; inward desire is the life, the heart, the reality of prayer. Though you cannot always be speaking in prayer, you can always be desiring in prayer. The miser is always desiring riches, though he is not always talking about his gold and silver; and the man who loves his fellow-men, and desires their profit, is really always praying for their benefit, though he is not always lifting up his voice in supplication. “Since the day we heard it,” saith Paul, “we do not cease to pray for you.” The act of prayer is blessed, the habit of prayer is more blessed, but the spirit of prayer is the most blessed of all; and it is this that we can continue for months and years. The act of prayer must, from force of circumstances, be sometimes stayed; but the habit of prayer should be fixed and unvarying; and the spirit of prayer, which is fervent desire, should be perpetual and abiding. We can hardly realize the value to the church and to the world of that intercessory prayer which ceases not day nor night, but without fail ascends before the Lord from the whole company of the faithful, as the incense ascended from the altar.

INTENSE PRAYER

Dear friends, our intercessory prayer will be all the more precious if it is an intense expression unto God. I suppose that by the use of the word “desire” here, the apostle not only explains how he continued to pray, but in what manner he prayed-with “desire.” Remember how our Lord puts it- “with desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” I wish we could always say “with desire have I desired in prayer. I did not repeat a merely complimentary benediction upon my friends, but I pleaded for them as for my life; I importuned with God; I offered an effectual inwrought prayer, which rose from the depths of my heart to the heights of heaven, and obtained an audience with God.” Fervency is a great essential for victorious prayer. God grant us to be importunate, for then we shall be invincible.

INTIMATE UNION PRAYER

One more observation, and I have done with this. Intercessory prayer is increased in value when it is not from one person alone, but is offered in intimate union with other saints. Paul says, “We also,” not “I only,” but “He also, since the day we heard it, cease not.” If two of you agree as touching anything concerning the kingdom, you have the blessing secured to you by a special promise of God. Remember how Abraham prayed for the cities of the plain, but succeeded not until Lot also added his supplication for Zoar. Then the little city was spared. I compare Abraham’s intercession to a ton weight of prayer, and poor Lot’s I can hardly reckon to have been more than half an ounce, but still that half-ounce turned the scale.

So here is Paul, and with him is youthful Timothy, who, compared with Paul, is inconsiderable; yet. Paul’s prayer is all the more effectual because Timothy’s prayer is joined with it. Our Lord sent out his servants by two and two, and it is well when they come back to him in prayer two and two.

I commend to you, brethren and sisters, the habit of frequent prayer together. When a Christian friend drops in, his visit, will perhaps end in mere talk unless you secure its spiritual profit by at least a few minutes spent in united prayer.

I frequently during the day, when a friend comes in upon the Master’s business, say, “Let us pray before you go,” and I always find the request is welcomed. Such prayers do not occupy much time, and if they did, it might be well spent; but such united supplications oil the wheels of life’s heavy wain, and cause it to move with less of that creaking which we too often hear.

“I alone” is certainly a good word in prayer; but “we also” is a better one. Let us link hands and intercede for our brethren and the whole church of God.

Thus have I expatiated upon the excellencies which increase the value of intercessory prayer. Use much this heavenly art. It is effectual for ten thousand ends. It turneth every way to bless the church. Brethren, pray for us, pray for all saints, pray for all sinners, and by so doing you will be the benefactors of your age. (See the full text)

For this reason (dia touto) Young's translates this literally as "because of this". What is "this"? The context refers to the favorable report Paul had received from Epaphras in the previous verse. Since the day Paul heard that report, he had been praying for the Colossians. It may seem unnecessary to pray for those who are "doing well". From my experience as a Sunday School leader, it is interesting how much of the prayer time focuses on those who are struggling, facing difficulties or fallen into sin or physical distress (and those prayer are certainly to be encouraged). Paul, however, knew that the knowledge that someone is growing in grace and Christ-likeness should never lead one to stop praying for them. Rather, it should encourage prayer that they would excel even more! The enemy reserves his strongest opposition for those who have the most potential for expanding God’s kingdom. Undoubtedly, another reason to pray for the Colossians, is that they were still relatively new believers in the midst of  insidious Gnostic heresies beginning to creep into and corrupt the body.

Albert Barnes

The progress which they had already made, and the love which they had shown, constituted an encouragement for prayer, and a reason why higher blessings still should be sought. We always feel stimulated and encouraged to pray for those who are doing well.

WE HAVE NOT CEASED TO PRAY FOR YOU: ou pauometha (1PPMI) huper humon proseuchomenoi (PMPMPN): (Col 4:12 Eph 6:18, 1Sa 12:23 Acts 12:5 Php 1:4 1Th 1:3 5:17 2Th 1:11 2Ti 1:3, 4 Philemon 1:4)

See Resources Related to Prayer...

Notes on the "Disciple's Prayer" Matthew 6:9ff
Notes on praying for hope, joy, peace Romans 15:13

We (plural) have not ceased to pray - Not that they literally were praying every moment but that this was their habitual practice (prayer to Paul was a "lifestyle") to lift up these requests for the saints at Colossae (this is the idea of interceding for one another). Paul gave the saints at Thessalonica the command to Pray (present imperative = command to do this continually) without ceasing (1Th 5:17-note, cp Mt 7:7-note), something all believers are commanded to carry out and should be motivated to gladly obey. Why pray (other than that it is a command and God never commands what He does not enable - the Spirit in us energizes our prayer)? Scripture records that out of approximately 667 recorded prayers in the Bible, there are about 454 recorded answers. God always answers of course but the fact that such a high percentage of answers are recorded should encourage us to pray without ceasing! Spurgeon had another great reason to pray without ceasing observing that...

Paul has been making constant and earnest prayer for the saints at Colossae, similar to 1Th 1:2-note; 1Th 2:13-note; Ro 1:9-note; and Eph. 1:15-note.

We all probably need to be a bit more like the apostle James of whom Eusebius wrote that his...

The ancient preacher Chrysostom (his name means “golden-mouthed”) described the power of unceasing prayer this way...

As a rule, the early morning hours are best for devotion, prayer, and the exercise of faith. "In the morning will I direct my prayer... and will look up." (Ps 5:3 - Spurgeon's note) Like a steady and determined archer, David directs his prayer. He takes careful aim, steadies himself, prays intelligently and perseveringly, and then looks up as though he were expecting and anticipating an answer. Praying by spasms and without a fixed aim is like throwing a line and sinker into the water without a worm or minnow. Here is one of the golden keys which unlock the storehouses of God, "and will look up." The poet prays expectantly, anticipatively, and believingly. He "directs" his prayer and then looks up for the answer. The Old Testament seers and sages oft times prayed with the palms of their hands held up and out towards the sky as though they expected GOD to put something in them. (ED: Do you pray confidently and expectantly?)

HAVE YOU PRAYED IT THROUGH?
by William Poole

Ceased (3973) (pauo) means to cease (middle voice = oneself) from an activity in which one is engaged. Pauo in the active sense means to cause something or someone to cease from some activity or state. To make stop. To stop, restrain, refrain, quit, desist. To come to an end.

Pauo is used 15 times in the NAS translated: cease, 4; ceased, 4; finished, 2; incessantly, 1; keep, 1; kept right, 1; stopped, 2.

Luke 5:4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

Luke 8:24 They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.

Luke 11:1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples."

Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Acts 6:13 They put forward false witnesses who said, "This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;

Acts 13:10 and said, "You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

Acts 20:1 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia.

Acts 20:31 "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

Acts 21:32 At once he took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

Ephesians 1:16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;

Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Hebrews 10:2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?

1 Peter 3:10 For, "THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.

1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

Pauo is found 78 times in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) (Gen 11:8; 18:33; 24:14, 19, 22; 27:30; Exod 9:28-29, 33-34; 31:17; 32:12; Nu 16:31; 17:10; 25:8; Deut 20:9; 32:26; Josh 7:26; 8:24; Jdg 15:17; 2 Sam 15:24; 1 Chr 21:22; Est 5:1; Job 6:7, 26; 14:13; 18:2; 29:9; 31:40; 37:19; 38:1; Ps 34:13; 37:8; Pr 18:18; 30:1; Isa 1:16, 24; 10:25; 16:10; 24:8, 11, 13; 26:10; 32:10; 33:8; 38:20; 57:10; 58:12; Jer 25:37; 26:3, 8, 13, 19; 31:15, 36; 43:1; 44:10; 48:2; 51:63)

The middle voice indicates that Paul and Timothy initiate the action of prayer and participate in the result (praying). Middle voice has a reflexive sense (relating to, or constituting an action -- as in “he perjured himself” -- directed back on the subject) and can be translated "we ourselves have not ceased".

Cease is in the present tense indicating that this is a habit of life for Paul and Timothy. Said another way, prayer was their lifestyle. Is prayer your lifestyle?

"Not" is the Greek ou which indicates absolute negation. In other words, Paul and Timothy were always in communion with the Lord, "always keeping the receiver off the hook” and thus never in the position of having to say when praying “Lord, we come into Thy presence,” because they never left His presence! They set a worthy goal for all of us to “pray without ceasing” (1Th 5:17) because we are always subject to temptations and attacks from the world, the flesh and the devil. A surprise attack has defeated more than one believer who forgot to “pray without ceasing.” Have you prayed today? Better yet, have you left the receiver off the hook?

Praying without ceasing does does not mean we are always saying an audible prayer for Jesus made it clear we are not to think we "will be heard for (our many) words" (Mt 6:7). We are not to be walking around muttering prayers under our breath. Rather, praying without ceasing is when prayer becomes as natural to us as our regular breathing. Unless we are sick or smothering, we rarely think about our breathing; we just do it. Likewise with prayer—it should be the natural habit of our lives, the “atmosphere” in which we constantly live.  Prayer without ceasing suggests the attitude and desire of one's heart as well as the words of one's lips. A saint who has his heart fixed on the things above, is ready to pray even when he is not conscious of it, because he is living with an attitude of "God consciousness". 

When Paul looked around his world, everything he saw prompted him to prayer in some way. When he thought of or heard about one of his beloved churches, it moved him toward communion with God. Nehemiah is an example of a man who continually left the receiver off the hook. After King Artaxerxes demanded the reason for his sadness, Nehemiah told him of the destruction of Jerusalem. Asked by the king for his request, he prayed a quick, brief prayer before replying (Neh 2:4). In the midst of a stressful situation, Nehemiah was conscious of God’s "attentive ear" and faithfulness to hear the cries of His children.

AND TO ASK: kai aitoumenoi (PMPMPN):

Ask (154) (aiteo) (present tense = we keep on asking - note the verb is plural suggesting Paul has some "prayer partners") is a specific word for prayer which asks for something to be given and gives prominence to the thing asked for rather than the person.

Lenski

Blass says that this voice is used in business transactions when one asks and gives (B.-D. 316, 2); but the middle voice denotes an asking to which one is entitled. This may occur in a business deal, but it may also take place in far more refined relations when he of whom we ask in some way entitles us to do so. Note, for instance, that Herod had entitled Salome to ask for as much as the half of his kingdom. The reflexive idea “ask for oneself” is only the starting point of this use of the middle: ask as one who is entitled to ask. The entitling referred to here is the fact that God commands us to ask; the middle voice implies that only on this supposition do we ask. (Lenski, R. C. H. (1937). The interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, to Titus and to Philemon (33). Columbus, O.: Lutheran Book Concern)

Aiteo conveys the sense of asking with urgency, even to the point of demanding and refers to the seeking by the inferior from the superior (Acts 12:20), by a beggar from the giver (Acts 3:2), by the child from the parent (Mt 7:9-note) or by a man from God (Mt 7:7-note; cf Jas 1:5-note 1Jn 3:22).

THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED (completely filled, totally controlled): hina plerothete (2PAPS):

That is hina which introduces the purpose of their prayer.

Filled (4137) (pleroo) means to be filled (passive voice = saints acted on by outside force) to the brim (a net, Mt 13:48, a building, Jn 12:3, Acts 2:2, a city, Acts 5:28, needs Phil 4:19), to make complete in every particular, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally, to flood, to diffuse throughout, to pervade, to take possession of and so to ultimately to control.

Pleroo is used 87 times in the NAS - Matt 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 3:15; 4:14; 5:17; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35, 48; 21:4; 23:32; 26:54, 56; 27:9; Mark 1:15; 14:49; Luke 1:20; 2:40; 3:5; 4:21; 7:1; 9:31; 21:24; 22:16; 24:44; John 3:29; 7:8; 12:3, 38; 13:18; 15:11, 25; 16:6, 24; 17:12f; 18:9, 32; 19:24, 36; Acts 1:16; 2:2, 28; 3:18; 5:3, 28; 7:23, 30; 9:23; 12:25; 13:25, 27, 52; 14:26; 19:21; 24:27; Ro 1:29; 8:4; 13:8; 15:13f, 19; 2 Cor 7:4; 10:6; Gal 5:14; Eph 1:23; 3:19; 4:10; 5:18; Phil 1:11; 2:2; 4:18f; Col 1:9, 25; 2:10; 4:17; 2Th 1:11; 2Ti 1:4; Jas 2:23; 1Jn 1:4; 2Jn 1:12; Rev 3:2; 6:11. NAS is translated: accomplish(1), accomplished(1), amply supplied(1), approaching(1), complete(1), completed(3), completing(1), elapsed(1), fill(3), filled(16), fills(1), finished(1), fulfill(20), fulfilled(20), fully carry(1), fully come(1), fully preached(1), increasing(1), made complete(2), made full(5), make...full(1), make...complete(1), passed(2), supply(1).

Pleroo is used 77 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Gen 1:22, 28; 9:1, 7; 25:24; 29:21; 50:3; Exod 32:29; Lev 8:33; 12:4; 25:29f; Num 6:5, 13; 7:88; Josh 3:15; Jdg 17:5, 12; 2 Sam 7:12; 1 Ki 1:14; 2:27; 7:14; 8:15, 24; 13:33; 2 Ki 4:4; 1 Chr 12:15; 17:11; 29:5; 2 Chr 6:4, 15; 13:9; 24:10; 29:31; 36:21f; Job 20:22f; Ps 16:11; 20:4f; 65:9; 71:8; 72:19; 74:20; 81:10; 83:16; 104:24; 110:6; 127:5; 129:7; Eccl 1:8; 6:7; 9:3; 11:3; Song 5:14; Isa 8:8; 13:3; 40:4; 65:11; Jer 13:12f; 23:24; 25:12, 34; 29:10; 33:5; 34:14; 44:25; 51:11, 14; Lam 4:18; Ezek 7:19; Dan 2:35; 4:11, 34; 5:26; 8:23; Zeph 1:9)

Pleroo also means to fulfill, to complete, to carry out to the full (eg Lk 9:31 at the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were "speaking of [Jesus'] departure which He was about to accomplish [pleroo] at Jerusalem")

Pleroo indicates more than just pouring water in a glass up the brim and has at least three shades of meaning that are helpful in illustrating the meaning.

(1) pleroo was often used of the wind billowing the sails of a ship and providing impetus to move the ship across the water. To be filled with the Spirit then to is to be moved along in our Christian life by God Himself, by the same dynamic by which the writers of Scripture were “moved by the Holy Spirit” (2Pe 1:21-note). In the spiritual realm, this concept depicts the Holy Spirit providing the thrust to move the believer down the pathway of obedience. A Spirit-filled Christian is not motivated by his own desires or will to progress. Instead, he allows the Holy Spirit to carry him in the proper directions. Another helpful example of this first meaning is a small stick floating in a stream. Sometime in our lives most of us have tossed a stick into a creek and then run downstream to see the twig come floating by, propelled only by the force of the water. To be filled with the Spirit means to be carried along by the gracious pressure of the Holy Spirit. From a negative aspect, the men in (Ro 1:29-note) are being moved by their depraved minds to do unspeakable evil.

(2) pleroo also conveys the idea of permeation as of salt’s permeating meat in order to flavor and preserve it.  God wants the Holy Spirit to permeate and flavor our lives so that when we’re around others they will know for certain that we possess the pervasive savor of the Spirit.

(3) pleroo conveys the sense of domination or total control.  It is used by the Gospel writers in various passages to indicate that people were dominated by a certain emotion.  In Luke 5:26, after Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and healed the paralytic, the people were astonished and “filled with fear.”  In Luke 6:11, when Jesus restored a man’s hand on the Sabbath, the scribes and Pharisees “were filled with rage.” When our Lord told the disciples that He would soon be leaving them, He told of their reaction: “sorrow has filled your heart” (John 16:6). The person who is filled with sorrow is no longer under his own control but is totally under the control of that emotion. In the same way, someone who is filled with fear, anger or even Satan (Acts 5:3) is no longer under his own control but under the total control of that which dominates him. Each of these uses reveals an emotion so overwhelming within the people that it dominated their thoughts and excluded every other emotion.

The word pleroo can also convey the idea of being fully equipped and was used to describe a ship that was "fully equipped" and ready for a voyage at sea. The believer has in Christ all that he needs for the "voyage of life" for we "are complete (pleroo - perfect tense = having been filled full, with the present result that you are in a state of fulness) in Him” (Col 2:10-note). “And of His fullness have all we received” (John 1:16).

The more common meaning of "filled" in the NT is to be controlled by that which fills one's heart and mind. For example, in (Ep 5:18-note) Paul commands (imperative mood) all believers (the verb is plural) at Ephesus "do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled (pleroo) with the Spirit". The verb is present tense calling for all saints to be continually filled, which describes what should be "the normal Christian life" to be enjoyed and experienced constantly and not to be reserved for a few special "spiritual" experiences.

Pleroo is in the passive voice (subject receives the action - in this context the "divine passive") which points out the fact that as believers we do not fill ourselves but permit the Spirit of God to fill us (and control us). In other words God discloses a knowledge of Himself. One cannot simply learn to know God. God is not like secular truths which may be learned. Divine truth must be revealed!

Melick notes that...

Christians must place themselves in that spiritual environment with the hope and expectation that God will reveal his will regarding specific matters. Paul’s point was not the difficulty of knowing God; it was the attitude required by the seeker of knowledge. In Christ God always makes himself known. (Melick, R. R. V32: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon; The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers)

The verb “fill” has less to do with contents, as though we are empty vessels that need a required amount of spiritual fuel to keep going. The person who is filled with sorrow (Jn 16:6) is no longer under his own control but is under the control of that emotion. In the same way, someone who is filled with fear (Luke 5:26), anger (Luke 6:11), jealously (Acts 5:17) or even Satan (Acts 5:3) is no longer under his own control but under the control of that which "fills" him. To be filled in this sense is to be totally dominated and controlled, and it is the most important meaning of pleroo for believers to understand.

Luke records that  “all in the synagogue were filled with rage” (Luke 4:28) indicating that they were controlled by rage. What was the result? "They rose up and cast Him (Jesus) out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff."  (Luke 4:29) The rage had so controlled Jesus' audience they were driven to the point of seeking to murder Jesus! Have you ever been furious? You know that you when anger controls you, you are capable of doing some things you would otherwise never consider.

In Acts 4:8 Peter "filled with the Holy Spirit" boldly proclaimed Jesus to the "rulers and elders of the people" even reminding them that they had crucified Jesus! This bold action shows the effects of one filled with the Spirit versus being filled with the flesh (see Peter's contrasting behavior on the night Jesus was betrayed in Mt 26:69ff)

In Acts 6:5 Stephen, a "man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" was so controlled that he proclaimed to the hostile Jewish audience one of the most powerful sermons ever recorded in (Acts 7), with the result that it cost him his earthly life. In sum, the fullness of the Spirit refers to His control over the yielded or surrendered believer.

When Paul and Barnabas arrived at Pisidian Antioch, Paul began proclaiming Jesus as Savior to the point that people were even begging for more of Paul's expository preaching. “When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.” (Acts 13:45)

In sum, to be “filled with the Spirit” means to be constantly controlled by the Spirit in our mind, emotions, and will. To be filled with the Spirit is not to have Him somehow progressively added to our life until we are full of Him. It is to be under His total dominion and control. This is in direct contrast to the uncontrolled drunkenness and dissipation in the worship of Dionysius that was alluded to in the first half of (Ep 5:18-note).

Remember that what ''fills'' you will control you...it will control both your actions and your reactions. Are you letting the Word of Christ richly dwell within you (Col 3:16-note) so that you might be controlled by the will of God in the Word of God as taught by the Spirit of God? How can you tell that you are "filled with the Spirit"? In Ephesians 5 Paul gives at least three "markers" of a person controlled by the Spirit because such an individual is (1) joyful (Eph 5:19-note), (2) thankful (Eph 5:20-note), and (3) submissive (Eph 5:21-33-note). Are you joyful, thankful and submissive? Then you are being controlled by God's Holy Spirit. Note that this filling is a repeated experience, for we constantly need to be filled with spiritual power if we are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

C. F. D. Moule has said, this prayer makes two great requests: (1) It asks for the discernment of God's will and (2) for the power to perform that will.

William Barclay has an interesting note

We are trying not so much to make God listen to us as to make ourselves listen to him; we are trying not to persuade God to do what we want, but to find out what he wants us to do. It so often happens that in prayer we are really saying, "Thy will be changed," when we ought to be saying, "Thy will be done." The first object of prayer is not so much to speak to God as to listen to him...

So when Paul prays that his friends may have wisdom and understanding, he is praying that they may understand the great truths of Christianity and may be able to apply them to the tasks and decisions which meet them in everyday living. A man may quite easily be a master of theology and a failure in living; able to write and talk about the eternal truths and yet helpless to apply them to the things which meet him every day. The Christian must know what Christianity means, not in a vacuum but in the business of living.

This knowledge of God's will, and this wisdom and understanding, must issue in right conduct. Paul prays that his friends may conduct themselves in such a way as to please God. There is nothing in this world so practical as prayer. It is not escape from reality. Prayer and action go hand in hand. We pray not in order to escape life but in order to be better able to meet it.

To do this we need power. Therefore, Paul prays that his friends may be strengthened with the power of God... What we need is power; and that we receive in prayer. If God merely told us what his will was, that might well be a frustrating situation; but he not only tells us his will, he also enables us to perform it.

Adam Clarke

Nothing could satisfy the apostle, either for himself or his hearers, but the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of peace. The Colossians had knowledge, but they must have more; it is their privilege to be filled with it. As the bright shining of the sun in the firmament of heaven fills the whole world with light and heat, so the light of the Sun of righteousness is to illuminate their whole souls, and fill them with Divine splendor, so that they might know the will of God, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; in a word, that they might have such a knowledge of Divine things as the Spirit of truth can teach to the soul of man.

Spurgeon commenting on the idea of be filled says that...

...this is grand scholarship, to have the mind, and heart, and the whole of our manhood filled with knowledge. Paul would not have a believer ignorant upon any point: he would have him filled with knowledge, for when a measure is full of wheat there is no room for chaff. True knowledge excludes error. The men that go after false doctrine are usually those who know little of the word of God; being untaught they are unstable, ready to be blown about with every wind of doctrine (Ep 4:14-note). It you leave empty spots in your minds unstored with holy teaching, they will be an invitation to the devil to enter in and dwell there. Fill up the soul, and so shut out the enemy.

Paul desired the Colossian saints to be filled-filled up to the brim with the knowledge of God’s will. Brethren, we would have you know all that you can know of God’s truth. Rome flourishes by man’s ignorance, but the New Jerusalem rejoices in light. No knowledge of the revealed will of God can ever do you any harm if it be sanctified. Do not be afraid of what they call “high doctrines,” or the “deep things of God.” They tell us that those things are secrets, and therefore we ought not to pry into them. If they are secrets, there is no fear that anybody can pry into them; but the truths revealed in the word are no longer secrets, seeing that they are revealed to us by the Spirit of God, and as far as they are revealed it should be our desire to understand them, so as to be filled with the knowledge of them.

WITH THE KNOWLEDGE (deep, thorough, experiential): ten epignosin: (1Co 1:5 Eph 1:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 3:14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Php 1:9, 10, 11 Col 2:2, 3:10 2Pe1:2, 3)

Spurgeon comments on this intimate, experiential type of knowledge exhorting us to...

Let us try to know divine truth more and more intimately. You know a man, for you pass him in the streets with a nod; you know another man far better, for you lodge in the same house with him; you know him best of all when you have shared his trouble, partaken in his joy, and have, in fact, had fellowship with him by blending your two lives in one common stream of friendship.

When you learn a spiritual truth endeavor to know it out and out; to know its foundation and up building; to know it by the application of the Spirit to your own soul so that you are filled with it.

You may have knowledge in the brain, but it may not run into your spirit, so as to penetrate, and permeate, and saturate your spirit, till you are filled therewith. Oh, to get the gospel into one’s entire nature, and to be like the water pots of Cana, filled up to the brim! Lord, fill thy poor children with the knowledge of thy will!

PRAYER FOR
A CHRISTIAN
MIND

Paul is praying in essence for these saints to have a Christian mind in the midst of a secular world who has a mindset radically and definitively in opposition to God and His will. Harry Blamires puts it this way in his book The Christian Mind explaining that...

The Christian mind has succumbed to the secular drift (cp Col 2:8-note) with a degree of weakness and nervelessness unmatched in Christian history....as a thinking being, the modern Christian has succumbed to secularization. He accepts religion - its morality, its worship, its spiritual culture; but he rejects the religious view of life, the view which sets all earthly issues within the context of the eternal...the view which sees all things here below in terms of God's supremacy and earth's transitoriness, in terms of Heaven and Hell.  The Christian mind (is) a mind trained, informed, equipped to handle data of secular controversy within a framework of reference which is constructed of Christian presuppositions. The Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian action. (Harry Blamires: The Christian Mind- How Should a Christian Think. Vine Books. 1997).

Knowledge (1922) (epignosis [word study] from gnosis = knowledge gained by experience + epi = here used to  intensify the meaning) full, perfect, precise knowledge thus signifying a more complete, more thorough, larger knowledge than that found in gnosis. Epignosis as used by Paul  stresses a true knowledge of God and His will. It was also, generally, the appropriate term for personal rather than intellectual knowledge. Epignosis  thus implies a more intimate and personal relationship than gnosis. The learner exhibits a more thorough participation in the acquiring of knowledge.

Epignosis - 20x in 20v - Rom 1:28; 3:20; 10:2; Eph 1:17; 4:13; Phil 1:9; Col 1:9f; 2:2; 3:10; 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Tim 2:25; 3:7; Titus 1:1; Philemon 1:6; Heb 10:26; 2 Pet 1:2f, 8; 2:20. NAS = acknowledge*(1), knowledge(14), real knowledge(1), true knowledge(4).

In the New Testament epignosis is always used of the knowledge of things ethical or divine, and is never ascribed to God. 

In the NT epignosis often refers to knowledge which very powerfully influences the form of one's spiritual life (in contrast to gnosis which Vincent says "may be concerned with the intellect without affecting the character").

Epignosis is not merely an intellectual understanding of the truth, but a heart submission and appropriation of the same.  

Epignosis is thus a knowledge laying claim to personal involvement. The definite article signifies "the" very specific knowledge & in the case of God's will found primarily in the Word of God. In contrast to the so-called "superior" knowledge claimed by the Gnostics & hidden from all but the initiated, Paul wants the Colossians to be totally controlled by GOD'S knowledge. The knowledge Paul wants the Colossians to have is a deep and thorough knowledge of God's word, will and ways.  Ideally then epignosis controls & directs one's behavior. Ignorance contrary to popular thought is not bliss. Most of Paul's letter give this pattern of ''knowledge'' or doctrine, then duty.

Lucas

Bruce quotes Bultmann’s definition of epignosis is ‘almost a technical term for the decisive knowledge of God which is involved in conversion to the Christian faith’. It is just because, in Christ, the Christians already have access to the privilege of this ‘full knowledge’ of God, that Paul can pray for them that they may be filled with it. If conversion to Christ had not brought with it this decisive understanding, then it would be reasonable to teach the need for some further initiation, and thus to occupy the same sort of ground as the new teachers. Paul does not ask for the Christians a new knowledge, however, but rather the proper use of what is already theirs in Christ, so that they can the better discern the will of God for their lives. (Lucas, R. C. Fullness & Freedom : The Message of Colossians & Philemon. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press)

H A Ironside

(Paul) told his readers that he prayed that they "might be filled with the knowledge of [God's] will." Those who were troubling the Colossian saints boasted of their superior knowledge. These Gnostics had evolved a complex system of mystical and wholly imaginative teaching regarding the soul's approach to God through an interminable number of intermediaries; they coupled this teaching with ascetic regulations and legal 31observances. In their eyes the gospel as preached by Paul was simplicity indeed; they looked on it as a child's conception of the philosophy of the universe; they viewed the gospel as puerile for men of mature minds. But he who knew this gospel in all its grandeur, as few other men have ever known it, spoke here of being "filled with the knowledge of [God's] will" (italics added); and he used a superlative instead of a word that the Gnostics were very fond of. They boasted of gnosis, which means "knowledge," but he said epignosis, which literally means "superknowledge." It is in the divine revelation alone that this is found. (H. A. Ironside Expository Commentary  – Colossians.)

Wuest adds that epignosis

"is a knowledge which grasps and penetrates into an object. It was a favorite word of the Gnostics who used it to designate the superior knowledge which they claimed al their exclusive possession. Paul prays that all the saints might become possessors of this knowledge, indicating that it was open for all to appropriate, not a secret mystery into which only a favored few could be initiated. If the Gnostics had their superior knowledge, so did the Christian Church. The former was speculative and false, the latter, positive and true. Paul prays that they not only might have it but that they might be filled with it." (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)

F B Hole makes an important distinction regarding this experiential knowledge writing that...

our knowledge is to be in spiritual understanding; that is, understanding acquired by the Spirit of God and not by a merely intellectual process. It is possible to acquire Biblical information in much the same way as one obtains historical or geographical information, and in such a case one may be able to analyze and expound the Scriptures and yet be quite a stranger to their experimental bearing and their power. Also our knowledge is to be in all wisdom. The wise man is he who is able with good judgment to apply his knowledge to the circumstances that he has to face. So what the Apostle desired for the Colossians, and for us, is that we might gain full knowledge of God's will by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, for in that way we shall ourselves be governed by what we know and also be able to apply our knowledge to practical details in the midst of the tangled circumstances that surround us. (Colossians Commentary)

OF HIS WILL: tou thelematos autou:

God's Will - Click note at end of this section.

Ironside

I do not think he was referring merely to God's will for the individual believer's life from day to day, although that would indeed be involved in the broader concept, just as a drop of water is included in the ocean. I think the apostle was referring to the Father's wondrous plan that has been known from eternity, is now being carried out in time, and will have its consummation in the ages to come. Knowledge of this eternal purpose of God is superknowledge indeed! The cleverest human intellect could never fathom it, apart from divine revelation.

This revelation we have in our Bibles. Running throughout the Scriptures from Genesis to the Apocalypse, it furnishes a theme for devout contemplation, demands enthusiastic study and careful examination by the most erudite minds and brilliant intellects, and calls for the deepest investigation of the most spiritual believers. At the same time, unlearned and ignorant Christians will find constant enjoyment in this revelation if they allow themselves to be guided by the Spirit in searching the Scriptures for knowledge of God's will. (H.A. Ironside Expository Commentary – Colossians)

Spurgeon explains that in...

the matter of this knowledge is; “filled with the knowledge of his will.” What is that? It means the revealed will of God. Paul would have the Colossians know what the Lord has revealed, as far as human mind could grasp it, whether it were doctrine, precept, experience, or prophecy. How well it is to know the perceptive will of God.

Our prayer should daily be,

“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Lord, teach me what is sin, and what is righteousness, that I may discern things which are excellent. Whereas there are questions in the church of God itself upon what the will of the Lord is, Lord help me not to care to know what is the will of this learned doctor, or what is the will of a certain assembly, but what is the Lord’s will."

“To the law and to the testimony,” this is our touchstone. Our desire is to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s will so as to do it without fail.

Especially would we know the will of God, as it constitutes the gospel; for Jesus says,

This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.

Oh, to know His will in that respect most clearly, so as to go and tell it out on all sides, that men may know the way of life, and may be led into it by our word! Once more we read in 1Thessalonians 4:3 (see note):

This is the will of God, even your sanctification.

Oh, to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s will till you know what sanctification means, and exhibit it in your daily life! It is yours to teach men what God means by holiness. Your mission is not fulfilled, and the will of God is not accomplished unless you are sanctified. This it is with which we need to be filled.

Know anything, know everything that is worth knowing.

“That the soul be without knowledge is not good.”

Never attempt to run side by side with the agnostic whose glory it is that he knows nothing; but let it be your delight to know all that can be learned out of the Book of the Lord, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost. Concentrate your faculties upon the will of God. Here dive into the deeps and climb up to the heights, and be afraid of nothing; ask the Holy Spirit to saturate you with truth, as Gideon’s fleece was wet with the dew of heaven, as the golden pot was filled with manna, or as Jordan is filled in the time of harvest, when it overflowed all its banks.

Will (2307) (thelema) refers to a desire which comes from one’s heart or emotions. Thelema is what one wishes or has determined shall be done or that which is desired or wished for. Here thelema refers to God’s gracious disposition. We understand the will of God through the Word of God (Col 3:16-note). The Spirit teaches us as we submit to Him.

Thelema - 62x in 58v - Matt 6:10; 7:21; 12:50; 18:14; 21:31; 26:42; Mark 3:35; Luke 12:47; 22:42; 23:25; John 1:13; 4:34; 5:30; 6:38ff; 7:17; 9:31; Acts 13:22; 21:14; 22:14; Rom 1:10; 2:18; 12:2; 15:32; 1 Cor 1:1; 7:37; 16:12; 2 Cor 1:1; 8:5; Gal 1:4; Eph 1:1, 5, 9, 11; 2:3; 5:17; 6:6; Col 1:1, 9; 4:12; 1 Thess 4:3; 5:18; 2 Tim 1:1; 2:26; Heb 10:7, 9f, 36; 13:21; 1 Pet 2:15; 3:17; 4:2, 19; 2 Pet 1:21; 1 John 2:17; 5:14; Rev 4:11. NAS = desire(1), desires(1), will(57).

The "knowledge of His will" could be considered as the science of God's will and perhaps one could call this science "thelemology" (since the Greek word for will is thelema). God has indeed given us guidelines for knowing His will. The principles of "thelemology" could be grouped in two categories: God's general will for all His people, and God's specific will for each individual believer. His general will includes knowledge and acceptance concerning creation (Rev 4:11-note, the last occurrence of will in the Bible, there translated "pleasure"), redemption (Heb 10:7, 8, 9, 10-note), salvation (2Ti 1:9-note), regeneration (Jn 1:13; Eph 1:5-note), security (Jn 6:39;17:24), sanctification (1Th 4:3-note; 1Th 5:18-note; 1Pe 2:15-note), and our eternal presence with Christ (Jn 17:24; Eph 1:9, 10, 11-note). The knowledge of His particular will is conditioned on willingness to follow it (Jn 7:17; Ro 12:1-note, Ro 12:2-note), obedience when known (Jas 1:22-note; Mt 7:21-note), prayer for guidance (1Jn 5:14, 15), obedience to the relevant Scriptures (Ps 119:105-note), recognition of relevant circumstances (1Cor 12:4,11; Ro 8:26, 27-note, Ro 8:28-note), and inner confidence (Php 4:6-note, Phil 4:7-note; Ps 32:8; Pr 3:5,6).

Lenski

For the Colossians, who are faced with errorists, Paul asks the knowledge they need in order to see through these errorists; and again the wording fits the special need: that you may be filled with full knowledge (epignosis), with no gaps in this knowledge that may lay you open to deception. They are to know fully “his (God’s) will” so that no one may substitute something for what God has really willed...

We note the combination epignosis-sophia-sunesis, the first dominating, the other two presenting its form. When it is connected with “wisdom” real knowledge of God’s will knows how to use and to apply this knowledge in life’s situations, for instance, when error confronts one. When it is connected with “understanding” (bringing this and that together) such knowledge will analyze and combine, will take one point after another of the error and will set against each point the part of truth regarding God’s will which refutes and exposes that error. (Ibid)

Constable

The "will" (thelematos) of God is what God has revealed in His Word to be correct regarding both belief (faith) and behavior (works, morality; cf. 4:12; Acts 22:14; Rom. 12:2). In the broadest sense, the will of God is the whole purpose of God revealed in Christ.[21] (Colossians Expository Notes)

Sinclair Ferguson said that...
 

The will of God means death to our own will, and resurrection only when we have died to all our own plans...It should be the aim of every Christian to have his will directed by the will of God revealed in Scripture (and)....Only in obedience can we discover the great joy of the will of God...Wisdom and the will of God are intimately related... Nothing is more vital for practical knowledge of the purposes of God than wisdom.

IN ALL SPIRITUAL WISDOM: en pase sophia kai sunesei pneumatike: (Col 3:16, 4:5, Ps 119:99, Eph 1:8, Jas 1:5)  

"in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God" (Amplified)

In all spiritual wisdom - Note how every word is important - In - In the "atmosphere" of, bathed in, invigorated with. All - Not just a part but all... all that God's Spirit will illuminate to me... all that my spiritual estate will bear. Give it all Lord. Spiritual - Oh, for spiritual wisdom rather than human wisdom which is earthly, natural and demonic. Give us experientially the mind of Christ O God.

Barnes feels this means

In understanding those things that pertain to the "Spirit;" that is, those things taught by the Holy Spirit, and those which he produces in the work of salvation. 1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 2:13. Comp. 1 John 2:20, 5:20.

Spurgeon writes...

we must now notice the manner as well as the matter of this knowledge: “in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Wisdom is better than knowledge, for wisdom is knowledge rightly used.

Knowledge may find room for folly, but wisdom casts it out.

Knowledge may be the horse, but wisdom is the driver.

When a man hath knowledge it is like the corn which is laid in the barn; but wisdom is the fine flour prepared for food.

We want Christian people not only to know, but to use what they know.

Happy is he who knows what to do at the right time! Many people are very knowing half an hour after it is too late; but to be filled with wisdom is to be able at once to apply knowledge rightly in difficult cases.

Wisdom enables you to bring your knowledge practically to bear upon life, to separate between the precious and the vile, to deal with your fellow Christians in their different conditions, and to deal with sinners and those that are without.

You need wisdom so to conduct your affairs that nothing therein shall scandalize the weak, or bring dishonor upon the name of Christ; for mere knowledge will not suffice for this.

Knowledge is the blade, wisdom is the fall corn in the car.

Knowledge is the cloth, but wisdom is the garment.

Knowledge is the timber, but wisdom hath builded her house.

May all our knowledge be sanctified by grace and attended with the guidance of the Spirit that we may become wise to know what the will of the Lord is.

“All wisdom,” saith the apostle-many-handed wisdom, wisdom of all sorts, wisdom that will serve you in the shop, wisdom that will be useful in the counting-house, wisdom that will aid the church of God, and wisdom that will guide you if you are cast among the vilest of mankind. May you “be filled with knowledge in all wisdom.”

But that wisdom which operates without must be attended by a spiritual understanding which is powerful within. I hardly know how to explain this: it is an inward knowledge of truth, the knowledge of the inward parts of things. It is a spiritual discernment, taste, experience, and reception of truth, whereby the soul feeds upon it, and takes it into herself.

We know many men who know much but understand nothing. They accept implicitly what they are taught, but they have never considered it, weighed it, estimated it, found out the roots of it, or seen the heart of it. Oh, to have in the church men full of spiritual understanding! These can say that they have tasted and handled the good word of life, and have proved and tested the truth as it is in Jesus.

You know how it was with the sacrifices of old: a man who was poor brought turtle-doves or pigeons, and of these we read of each bird, “The priest shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder:” but a man who was rich in Israel brought a bullock or a sheep, and this offering was not only cleft down the middle, but further divided, and the fat and the “inwards” are mentioned in detail. The poorer sacrifice represents the offering of the uninstructed; they have never rightly divided the word of God, and know not its fullness of meaning; but the man who is rich in grace is comparable to him who brought his bullock; for he can enter into detail and see the secret meanings of the Word. There is a deep, which lieth under, and he that is taught of the Lord shall find it.

“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant;” (Ps 25:14-note) and blessed are they that are taught of the Lord so as to read the mystery of His grace!

Here, then, is a grand petition for us. To go back to our first head, let our intercessory prayers go up for all our brethren. Lord, teach them Thy word. Let them know Thy book from cover to cover, and let the truths therein revealed enter into them until they are filled to the brim: then grant thou them the skill to use in daily life the knowledge which thy Spirit has imparted, and may they more and more in their inmost souls be guided into all truth, that they may comprehend with all saints what are the heights, and depths, and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.

Wisdom (4678) (sophia) is the ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action, based on knowledge and understanding.

Sophia is used  6x in Colossians (a key word)

Sophia - 51x in 49v - Matt 11:19; 12:42; 13:54; Mark 6:2; Luke 2:40, 52; 7:35; 11:31, 49; 21:15; Acts 6:3, 10; 7:10, 22; Rom 11:33; 1 Cor 1:17, 19ff, 24, 30; 2:1, 4ff, 13; 3:19; 12:8; 2 Cor 1:12; Eph 1:8, 17; 3:10; Col 1:9, 28; 2:3, 23; 3:16; 4:5; Jas 1:5; 3:13, 15, 17; 2 Pet 3:15; Rev 5:12; 7:12; 13:18; 17:9 NAS = cleverness, 1; learning, 1; wisdom, 49.

Sophia - 138x in the Septuagint - Ex 31:3; 35:26, 31, 33, 35; 36:1f; Deut 4:6; 2 Sam 14:20; 20:22; 1 Kgs 2:6, 35; 3:1; 4:29; 5:12; 1 Chr 22:12; 28:21; 2 Chr 1:10ff; 9:3, 5ff, 22f; Ezra 7:25; Job 4:21; 11:6; 12:2, 12f; 13:5; 15:8; 26:3; 28:12, 18, 20, 28; 32:7, 13; 33:33; 38:36f; 39:17; Ps 37:30; 49:3; 51:6; 90:12; 104:24; 107:27; 111:10; Prov 1:2, 7, 20, 29; 2:2f, 6, 10; 3:5, 13, 19; 4:11; 5:1; 6:8; 7:4; 8:1, 11f; 9:1, 10; 10:13, 23, 31; 11:2; 14:6, 8, 33; 15:33; 16:16; 17:16, 28; 18:2; 20:29; 21:30; 22:4; 24:3, 7, 14; 28:26; 29:3, 15; 30:3; 31:5; Eccl 1:13, 16ff; 2:3, 9, 12f, 21, 26; 7:10ff, 19, 23, 25; 8:1, 16; 9:10, 13, 15f, 18; 10:1, 10; Isa 10:13; 11:2; 29:14; 33:6; Jer 8:9; 9:23; 10:12; 49:7; 51:15; Dan 1:4, 17, 20; 2:20f, 23, 30; 5:14

Thayer makes an excellent point that wisdom is...

used of the knowledge of very diverse matters, so that the shade of meaning in which the word is taken must be discovered from the context in every particular case.

Spiritual wisdom is godly wisdom (contrasting with worldly wisdom - study and make a list of the contrasts in Jas 3:13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 1Cor 1-2) which involves living life in the light of the revelation of God’s Will in His Word and applying this knowledge to specific situations. Biblical wisdom is definable as skill for living. God's plan to redeem us destroyed the wisdom of the worldly wise men (1Cor 1:19). In fact, human wisdom never could comprehend God's plan for salvation (1Cor 1:21). Paul was not bound by the limits of human wisdom because the Holy Spirit conveyed spiritual wisdom through him (1Cor 2:13). Human wisdom is totally inadequate to accept God's salvation (1Cor 3:18,19).

Spiritual wisdom is given only by the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, Solomon exemplified this wisdom (Matt 12:42). When Jesus came, His wisdom also outshone the wisdom of the wisest among men (Matt 13:54). This wisdom was seen in the Lord Jesus, even when He was a small Boy (Luke 2:40,52). When leaders became necessary in the Jerusalem church, the apostles set about to select men who possessed this spiritual wisdom (Acts 6:3).

Wisdom is the insight into the true nature of things. Knowledge is the mental possession of powers of perceiving objects, wisdom is the power of right reasoning concerning them and forming right decisions accordingly.

Wisdom is the  ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action, based on knowledge and understanding.

Wisdom is the art of being successful, of forming the correct plan to gain the desired results. Its seat is the heart, the centre of moral and intellectual decision

Sophia emphasizes understanding of ultimate things—such as life and death, God and man, righteousness and sin, heaven and hell, eternity and time.

Sophia  is mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense (Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament. Vol. 3, Page 1-129).

Sophia is used frequently in the New Testament to describe the ability to discern and conform to God’s will.

In the time of Homer, wisdom was an attribute but in some Greek writings sophia was not infrequently used to describe shrewdness and cunning.  To the Greeks sophia was never an action, as saying wise words or doing wise deeds. In fact, in ancient Greece wisdom had a practical aspect, for a "wise" carpenter was one who knew his trade well. In Greek culture the College of Seven Sages was distinguished by both wisdom and political discernment. According to Socrates, wisdom was knowing how little one really knew. Aristotle equated wisdom with "philosophy." The Stoics described wisdom as the application of knowledge. In the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament, is used 135 times, and in the first use Jehovah tells Moses that...

And I have filled him (Bezalel  in preparation for the task of fashioning and constructing the tabernacle) with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship" (Exodus 31:3)

Comment: Notice how God's work is to be done with God's wisdom and not worldly wisdom

In Deuteronomy Moses instructed Israel that they should

keep and do them (statutes and judgments which Jehovah had commanded Moses Israel to carry out in the land they were entering to possess it), for that is your wisdom (LXX = sophia) and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise (sophos) and understanding people. (Deut 4:6)

Wisdom is sometimes personified, as in the Proverbs as special knowledge, mainly knowledge concerning Jehovah ("Wisdom shouts in the street. She lifts her voice in the square" Pr 1:20). When Solomon prayed for wisdom to rule,

"Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore." (1Kings 4:29) And so "so King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart." (2Chronicles 9:22, 23) which is what led the Queen of Sheba to come and see and then declare "How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom." (2Chronicles 9:7)

In what is considered to be the oldest book in the Bible we read Job's thoughts on divine wisdom:

But where can wisdom (LXX = sophia) be found? And where is the place of understanding?... "Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; and the acquisition of wisdom (LXX = sophia) is above that of pearls." So what was the source of this valuable resource? "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom (LXX = sophia) and to depart from evil is understanding.' (Job 28:12, 18, 28)

Below are a few examples of verses from Psalms (7 uses of sophia) and Proverbs (43 uses of sophia, compared with 25 uses in Ecclesiastes) which use sophia in the LXX:

Psalm 37:30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice. (Spurgeon's Note)