In a sermon I preached a while back I unpacked this idea based upon Paul's prayer in Colossians 1.9 to know the will of God:

Paul begins by telling them why he prays for them, it’sbecause he has heard about the glorious effects that have sprung up in theirlives because of the Gospel. So Paul is infatuated with the gospel message andhe relays this even further when you look more intently at his petition ontheir behalf: that God will fill you withthe knowledge of his will. First, we have to look at his statement aknowledge of God’s will. You know, when we think of this statement of “theknowledge of His will” we almost always go straight to ourselves. We like to think of God’s will in terms that the bible just does not use: MY future, MY vocation, MYneeds, MY ministry and it is really all just self-centeredness. The psalmist in 143.10 says, “Teach me to DO your will” not teach me to know it.Paulsays in Eph.5.15-17, “be very careful then how you live not as unwise, but aswise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”Understanding what the Lord’s will is, cannot be reduced to merely anintellectual pursuit, rather they are to make the most of every opportunity byavoiding foolishness which SHOWS that they understand what the Lords will is.

In 1 Thess.4.3 Paul says, “It is God’s will that youshould be sanctified” and again in 5.16-18 he says, “Be joyful always; praycontinually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for youin Christ Jesus.” Knowing Gods will should be understood as knowing HOW to live,not as a search for some abstract mystical knowledge that is outside of us. Wemust refashion our understanding of knowing God’s call on our life as knowingHOW to live, which is learned by knowing and understanding the person of God.It should be our goal to think God’s thoughts after him, to get into his mindso much that we begin to think like him. So the idea behind of knowledge is notintellectual, but volitional, a change in the act of the will.

And this idea goes straight into what Paul is trying tosay here in Colossians as is he fighting off the heresy that is in oppositionto the gospel, because when Paul talks about knowledge, he often refers toknowing the mystery, which he reminds them of in 1.25-27. So Paul is callingthem to a knowledge of this glorious revealed mystery, that they are now newcreatures, because of Christ. So it is this knowledge of the gospel and the Godof the gospel that Paul wants them to know, so they can live properly in theirrelationship with him. So this is understanding how to live before God, not assome fact finding knowledge that can all be stored away on a bookshelf only tobe returned to when we need to give an answer to someone’s question.

So, obviously our question would follow, how do I attainthis knowledge? And this is seen whenPaul asks that we “be filled” with this knowledge of God’s will through all SPIRITUAL wisdom and understanding. It is a divine passive that Paul uses todenote this process of filling in us and it is accomplished by the wisdom andunderstanding that is provided through the Spirit. You see it is not a singlehanded hot pursuit for self-understanding, but it is a humble dependence uponthe Spirit, whereby you plead for God’s grace to enlighten your mind and willto the greatness of what he has done for you and how he wants that to beexpressed in and through your life, because it is never about you, it is abouthim and so God asks us to submit ourselves to the Spirit in humble dependenceto illumine our minds to his greatness.

So as we ponder this petition that Paul presents to God, it is a call to know. Itis a petition that we would submit to the divine filling of the Spirit toillumine our hearts to the greatness of the gospel and to gain insight into howto live as new creations in Christ. So this knowledge cannot be reduced to amere intellectual pursuit for self-understanding, by trying to find out whatGod has for ME, but to understanding how we can live for HIM. And as seminarystudents it is very easy to get sidetracked on an idea of knowledge that is notin alignment with the biblical understanding of knowledge, and we can quitequickly find ourselves heading down a trail in pursuit of a self-knowledge, inwhich we become more enamored with learning about God and talking about God,and preaching sermons about God without him ever becoming the all consumingreason for which we learn, study, and preach. Thus, this call to know must notend with a simple pursuit of knowledge for self-understanding, but for a call to be illumined by the greatness of the gospel, which demands a response of worship.