A Biblical Counselor’s Prayer
As a Biblical Counselor, I talk to many people in search of discipleship and advice on living life as a Christian. I draw the answers to my counselees’ questions from Scripture because the Bible speaks to every human condition of the heart.
You might ask how I can say that a book written by old dead white men can answer the complex problems of life today, because biblical writers had no clue about technology, or modern concepts. They had no concept of the complexity of life in this century.
I would grant you that those people did not have technology, nor did they have all the complex relationships that we have today. However, I would take issue with the fact that technology and complex relationships are irrelevant when it comes to the motivation of the human heart. The ways people respond to the stress of their lives are not all that complex. The complexity is an effect not a cause. The Biblical writers struggled with the same issues of humanity that we all face today. There is nothing new in that regard; and it is to those issues that the Bible speaks. It is a transcultural document. (Ecclesiastes 3)
Paul was a Biblical Counselor. He received many questions from various churches seeking his advice on how to live a godly life in a hostile environment. Even then, Christianity was unpopular. Let us take Colossae for example.
In Colossae, the believers heard a teaching, which doubted the sufficiency of Christ for salvation. Some believers feared pagan deities that claimed to have power to disqualify believers from life with their God. They feared the loss of their salvation.
Paul wrote to them to show that the one true God secured their salvation and that no one could usurp His will. The seal God placed on their souls marked them with His ownership.
In verses 9-12 of Chapter 1, Paul tells them that he has been praying a great prayer for them that would equip them with everything they need. This powerful prayer, says Charles Stanley (of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta Georgia in the U.S), is the best you can pray for anyone. It calls on the power of God to equip a person with His very wisdom and discernment so that they can know and act on God’s will for their lives. In verses 13-25, Paul tells them exactly what power is behind the answer to that prayer and how they can be certain that Christ is sufficient for them.
A Biblical Counselor hears this problem many times and in many ways. Counselees often think that Christ is not sufficient for their lives. They also think that the deities of their world are able to overcome Christ. In that regard, nothing has changed except the deities of scientism, materialism, and technology. These deities are no more powerful than the ones of old; they just have new names. The fears of the Colossians are the same as the fears of 21st century people. Fear is transcultural, fear is common to humanity (1Cor. 10:13).
In counseling them, I encourage my counselees to pray this prayer not just with me in their sessions, but also to pray it at home. Christianity is a lifestyle not an activity. It must be lived on a day-to-day basis. The Colossians prayer is a good way to enable the Christian life.
The verse asks to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of His call on their lives, and to have fruit in their lives that shows a growing and intimate relationship with Him.
This very powerful prayer can be the mechanism that heals people from their problems. It is a unique prayer I pray for each of my counselees. As a Biblical Counselor, it is the best prayer I can pray.
Beyond the Christian Label 