In our study of Paul's prayer in Phil 1:9-11;as expanded by the Gal 5:22-23 passage we saw that he used the Greek word " êáñðüò karpos "which refers to the fruit or production which comes from the work of God the Holy Spirit in the believer's life as the believer advances in their PMA of Bible Doctrine.

We have examined the 9 facets of this production which is exhibited in the believer who has God the Holy Spirit working in them.

Today we are picking up where we left off last time in our discussion of what is referred to as fruit in the Bible.

A special category of believer in the local assembly is the widow because of the freedom they have to help in the local assembly. In the time the Bible was written, there was a list of widows that the local assembly supported financially.

The widow who was put on the "list" for support by the local assembly was to "have a reputation for good works". 1Tim 5:10; " One good work that is specifically mentioned is that of bringing up children, which when done properly has far reaching impact. Eph 6:4 Net note 7 Prov 22:6;

Also mentioned as being fruit or production is showing hospitality to strangers, serving other believers and offering to help believers in difficulty.

Believers who are Fruitful recognize that eternal rewards may be derived from routine work such as those of maintaining a household and recognize that their life whenever, whatever, and wherever should never be viewed as monotonous because everything the believer does is important because it's impact on the believer’s eternal rewards. Col 3:23-24;

Fruit or production by God the Holy Spirit in the believer's spiritual life occurs in all facets of the believer's life and that Fruit or production, is the manifestation and magnification of the life of TLJC who is the true vine and source of all spiritual production or fruit in the believer's life. Gal 6:9-10;

Continuing in our study of prayer as part of the PPOG for the spiritual life of the believer we will now look at Paul's prayer for the believer's spiritual growth in Col 1:9-12;

As we have seen in his other prayers, Paul focuses on the goal of the spiritual transformation of believers through their enlightenment, their empowerment, and their advance in the spiritual life. Rom 12:1-2;

Part of the purpose for Paul's letter to the Colossians was to address the heresy of Gnosticism which had became influential. The Gnostics believed in a dualism which set the material and spiritual in opposition. In their view, the material world was evil and only the spiritual was good and Since God is good, He must be spiritual, and consequently he was separate from the material universe.

As a result, the Gnostics believed that God did not create the material universe, but that it was created by an emanation or agent separated from God by a host of angelic ranks.

In the Gnostic view, Jesus must either be a low-ranking angelic being, or an apparition, because God who is good could not take on evil flesh.

According to the Gnostics, the human body and its passions were evil, a prison for the spark of the divine which was the true nature of human beings. Salvation was won by seeking the hidden knowledge (gnosis) of God, and it had nothing to do with the ordinary daily life which persons lived in the body.

In their view, Spirituality was divorced from natural life. A Gnostic might seek to become more spiritual by punishing his body (asceticism), or a Gnostic might live for physical pleasure, (hedonism) because they believed that nothing the evil body did could have any impact on the true, spiritual self that was trapped inside the body.

Paul's letter to the Colossians confronted Gnosticism at every point. He wrote that God had created the heavens and earth as well as the spiritual realm (Col. 1:16).

That Jesus came to earth as God incarnate in a real human body (Col. 1:19). and that it was through the death made possible by his incarnate body that Jesus had won forgiveness and reconciliation for mankind. (Col. 1:20, 22).

He wrote that the believer living in the spiritual life is doing God's will daily, by expressing their Position as a member of the Royal Family of God through the production of the Fruit of the Spirit in their lives from their life inside the PPOG.

Paul's prayer in Col 1:9-12; was written in the context of his refutation of what the Gnostics believed and taught.

"Since the day we heard of you, [we] have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you ” may be filled (pleroo) with the knowledge (epignosis) of His will (thelema) and all spiritual wisdom (sophia) and understanding (sunesis).

The Colossian believers are progressing in the spiritual life and as a result they are re-presenting TLJC. Acts 1:8; 1John 4:17; 1John 3:16;

They are manifesting the life of TLJC 2Cor 4:10; and demonstrating the virtues that he demonstrated while he was on this earth in his unglorified humanity using the prototype spiritual life 1Pet 2:9;

Paul and Timothy's prayer was for them to continue till they are filled to the point of fullness "pleroo"

This spiritual advance requires ever increasing and accurate spiritual knowledge.

The virtues required for the advance are the same as we studied in our Gal 5:22-23; passage: character virtues like love Col 1:8; , humility gentleness and compassion Col 3:12 and the cognitive assets of epignosis-knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual understanding for their steady and true spiritual progress to be maintained.... the same as for the Philippians as we saw in Phil 1:9;

Paul and Timothy had commenced and continued in this prayer without ceasing since the "day" or time that they had first heard of the Colossian believer's advance from Epaphras. Col 1:7-8;

The word for prayer is "proseuchomenoi" which is in the middle voice and means that Paul and Timothy are participants in the action of the prayer which is empowered and enabled by God the Holy Spirit. Eph 6:18;

Paul having commissioned Epaphras to be a missionary to the local assembly at Colossae had a vested interest in his work there and as a result he and Timothy had taken up with an ongoing supportive barrage of prayer for their spiritual advance.

As we have been studying, prayer is a function of the believer's priesthood and through prayer believers have the privilege of representing themselves and others before the throne of Grace. Heb 4:16; in order to receive help in time of need.

The process of "continual" prayer does not mean it is continuous and unending, it means that it was a habit that they continued in on a habitual basis.

God's mandates are not a burden or cumbersome 1John 5:3; Matt 11:28;

If we are overburdened by what we believe is a mandate from God's word it is because we have a false interpretation of or misunderstanding the word in that area.

Truth frees us it does not enslave us. Psa 119:45; John 8:31-32,36;, James 1:25;