Colossians 4:1-6
Our text falls naturally into
two parts.
· Prayer: Speaking to God about people (verses 2-4)
· Evangelism: Speaking to people about God (verses 5-6)
· Prayer: Speaking to God about people (verses 2-4)
· Evangelism: Speaking to people about God (verses 5-6)
Let’s
look first at how to speak to God about others. Verse 2 answers the question,
“How do we pray?” We discover three helpful guidelines in this verse: “Devote
yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
1. Pray with devotion. The word, “devote” means to “adhere firmly to.” It implies unrelenting persistence and is the opposite of “hit and miss.” It brings back to mind how steadfast the early church was in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” In Luke 18:1, Jesus told his “disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
Being devoted in prayer is similar to cheering on your sports team, regardless of whether they are winning or losing. Paul is saying something quite simple: Keep praying. Don’t bail. Don’t give up. Be faithful. You may have dry times and days when you don’t know what to say, but keep praying anyway.
To be “devoted” to prayer also means to be “ready at all times.” In Colossians 4:2. Paul is saying, “Always be ready to break into prayer, and do it instantaneously, at all times.” That’s precisely the same admonition in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 where we’re exhorted to “pray continually.”
2. Pray with
watchfulness. Verse 2 continues by saying that we’re to be “watchful” or awake
when we pray. Paul told the believers in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 to be “alert and
self-controlled” as the time approaches for the Lord’s return. This exhortation
brings to mind the words of Jesus to His disciples the night before He was
crucified in Mark 14:34, 38: “Stay here and keep watch…Watch and pray so that
you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is
weak.” Watchful prayer provides the spiritual fortitude to face down
temptation. Because Peter could not stay awake when he was supposed to pray, he
gave in to temptation and denied Christ a few hours later.1. Pray with devotion. The word, “devote” means to “adhere firmly to.” It implies unrelenting persistence and is the opposite of “hit and miss.” It brings back to mind how steadfast the early church was in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” In Luke 18:1, Jesus told his “disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
Being devoted in prayer is similar to cheering on your sports team, regardless of whether they are winning or losing. Paul is saying something quite simple: Keep praying. Don’t bail. Don’t give up. Be faithful. You may have dry times and days when you don’t know what to say, but keep praying anyway.
To be “devoted” to prayer also means to be “ready at all times.” In Colossians 4:2. Paul is saying, “Always be ready to break into prayer, and do it instantaneously, at all times.” That’s precisely the same admonition in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 where we’re exhorted to “pray continually.”
Consider the difference between two military sentries. One is guarding an Armory here in the U.S… The other is guarding a platoon in Afghanistan. Which one is probably going to be more attentive? The one who realizes he’s in a battle. Friends, because we’re in a spiritual battle, we need to stay on high alert at all times. 1 Peter 5:8 paints a real picture of the war we are in: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
3. Pray with
thankfulness. We should never pray without thinking of at least one thing to
thank God for. Gratitude is a stimulus to prayer. When we see answers to
prayer, we will desire to pray more. He’s given us so many things. Listen to
how Paul puts his own preaching into practice in the Book of Colossians;
· 1:3: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.”
· 1:12: “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
· 2:7: “Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
· 3:15-17: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
· 1:3: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.”
· 1:12: “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
· 2:7: “Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
· 3:15-17: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
4. Ask for open doors. It’s amazing to me that
while Paul is under house arrest he doesn’t ask for prayers for his release, or
for better food, or anything else like that. He simply wants an open door for
the gospel message. In Scripture, a door is an opportunity, or ability. In 1
Corinthians 16:9, Paul says, “a great door for effective work has opened to
me.” In 2 Corinthians 2:12, he writes, “I went to Troas to preach the gospel of
Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me.” Jesus opens and shuts
doors for us as we seek Him in prayer.
5. Ask for clarity. Once God opens a door, it’s
essential that we have the ability to proclaim the mystery of Christ with
clarity. The goal of evangelism is to make the cloudy clear. As we’ve learned,
the mystery is that Christ has died for the sins of the whole world, and that
when we receive Him by faith, He comes to take up residence in our life as
Colossians 1:27 states: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”…It’s the mystery of
transformation power!
Tomorrow we will look into
verses 5-6…
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