Winter Springs, Florida Lesson
23
Colossians 4:2-4
INTRODUCTION
How can we make an impact for Christ in a world that is
basically antagonistic to Christ?
How can we see people truly saved if they will not listen to what we
have to say about salvation in Christ?
The answer is through a life of commitment to prayer. Someone has said, ÒThe history of the
ChurchÕs progress is the history of prayer.Ó
As you remember, Colossians chapters 3 and 4 deal with practical
Christianity which flows out from the fact that all Christians share the
spiritual life of Christ. Because
Christians are co-resurrected with Christ, we have seen it affects how we live
as husbands and wives, how children obey parents and fathers discipline
children, how it affects employees and employers. Now the Apostle Paul shows that our life in Christ affects
how we live in this world and how we are to face and interact with people who
are unbelievers.
WATCHING IN PRAYER 4:2-4
Prayer Which Perseveres (2): Devote
yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
For a Christian to experience real life in a real world, he
must be devoted to prayer. This
should be translated, ÒBe constantly and continually devoting yourself to prayer.Ó
It implies fervor, persistence and perseverance in prayer. We must not give up in prayer. We must stick at it: ÒThen. Jesus
told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always prayer and
not give up. He said: ÔIn a certain
town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who
kept coming to him with the plea, ÔGrant me Justice against my adversary.Õ For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ÔEven though I donÕt fear
God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see
that she gets Justice, so that she wonÕt eventually wear me out with her
caning?ÕÓ (Lk. 18:1-5)
One of the very first indications that our spiritual life is slipping is
that we stop praying, or make excuses for prayerlessness, or begin to think
that prayer is not important.
John Bunyan defined prayer as: ÒPrayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God through Christ in the strength and assistance of the Holy spirit for such things as God has promised or according to His Word for the good of the church with submission and faith to do the will of God.Ó
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Prayer is the most important and crucial expression Ôof our
life in Christ. A prayerless Christian is a contradiction in kind. Without prayer, we will never mature as
a Christian. With prayer, we can
only grow in power and spiritual strength. Prayer is one of the basic means to resist temptations. Someone has said, ÒIf prayer does not drive sin out of your
life, sin will drive prayer out.Ó
Prayer is basic to knowing GodÕs will. Prayer is fundamental in the reaching of the lost for
Christ. Prayer is to be constant
and steady. First Thessalonians 5:16 says, ÒPray continuallyÓ
or ÒPray without ceasing.Ó
Literally this means, ÒPray with the frequency of a hacking cough.Ó Prayer to the Christian is like
breathing to the human body - both are
essential for life.
The poet said it well: ÒSatan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.Ó
If we are honest, we know that for the best of us there
comes times when it seems our prayers get no higher than the ceiling. When this happens, we must go on
praying, for the person who prays cannot stay in a spiritual pit or a dry
spiritual desert. Someone has
said, ÒWhen it is hardest to pray, we ought to pray hardest.Ó We must pray our way through all
spiritual valleys.
The Christian is not only told to pray but to watch. Literally Òto watchÓ means to keep
awake, suggesting constant spiritual alertness. ÒThen he returned to his disciples and found them
sleeping. ÒSimon,Ó he said to
Peter, Òare you asleep? Could you
not keep watch for one hour? Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.Ó (Mk. 14:37,38). We have all experienced a zeal to pray, sitting down,
kneeling or flat on our faces. We
pray for a while then our minds wander and we get drowsy and sometimes fall
asleep. Paul says we must stay
awake, be alert, be on guard against wandering
thoughts.
A Christian can no more expect to live a normal, happy
spiritual life without prayer than a person can expect to sit in a darkroom,
without ever being touched by sunlight, and hope to be healthy. And when we pray, we must be careful
about praying sweet, little, pet phrases, or praying mechanically, or with vain
repetitions. God wants prayer,
more prayer and still more prayer from the heart, and He does not care about
our eloquence.
One time when I was at a very spiritual
low point in my Christian life, when everything seems mechanical and
distasteful to me, when I was very tired and emotionally exhausted, we had some
people come to our house. When
they were leaving, we all stood in the foyer. It was about 11:00 in
the evening. One of the men said,
ÒPastor Arnold, why donÕt you lead us in prayer?Ó I bowed my head and began to pray, ÒThank you Lord for this
food...Ó I
was in no way watching and alert in prayer, but running on mechanics.
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We are not only to pray, but our prayers are to be filled
with a spirit of thanksgiving. An
attitude of thanksgiving always produces a spirit of humility and
gratefulness. ÒDo not be
anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.Ó (Philip. 4:6,7).
We experience real life in a real world when we touch the
Throne of Grace through prayer. When
praying and thanking God one cannot be negative or critical.
Prayer For Open Doors (3a): And pray for us, too, that God
may open a door for our message,
Paul requests that the Colossians pray for him and the
others who were ministering with him such as Epaphras
and Timothy.
Paul did not feel restrained, inhibited or strained in
asking other believers to pray for him.
Paul did not see this as a manifestation of weakness, but he was honest
and sensed he needed prayer to be effective for Christ. So often, when we ask people to pray
for us we are hesitant. We donÕt
want anyone to think we are weak or to expose our problems, but asking for
prayer is an admission of need and an act of humility.
PaulÕs point is that while the Colossians were praying for themselves, it would be well if they would pray for him
also. What Paul asked them to pray
for was opportunity to declare Christ and the way of salvation to people. Paul was in prison when he wrote these
words. He did not pray for release
from prison, although he surely desired that to happen. He prayed that in and through the
crisis of imprisonment, he would have opportunity right then to witness.
Why pray? God
is sovereign over the doors of evangelism. He alone opens and closes these doors. ÒNow when I went to Troas to
preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me...Ó (II Cor. 2:12). No matter how bad our circumstances, we
are to pray for God to give us opportunity to witness for Christ. We often make up excuses such as, ÒThe
timing is not rightÓ or ÒThe circumstances are too difficult.Ó Yet, Paul witnessed, taking every
opportunity God gave him even when he was in jail and chained to a Roman guard. Actually, Paul was guarded by members
of the Praetorian Guard who were the EmperorÕs personal
guardians and the most elite troops in the Roman legends. Every six hours a new guard was chained
to Paul and Paul would witness to these soldiers. They would see and hear him praying, writing letters,
reading the Bible, witnessing to visitors, encouraging Christians, and then he
would engage in a direct conversation with these soldiers about Christ. Some of these soldiers would become
Christians who in turn would witness to superiors. Some of these superiors would become Christians. Then these high ranking military men
would witness to CaesarÕs household, and some of CaesarÕs household
believed. ÒAll the saints
send you greetings, especially those who belong to CaesarÕs household.Ó
(Philip. 4:22). Paul was in chains but the
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gospel was not chained. ÒThis is my gospel, for which I
am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But GodÕs word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the
sake of the elect, that they too nay obtain the salvation that is in Christ
Jesus, with eternal glory.Ó (II
Tim. 2:8b-10).
Since May 1, we have seen an amazing example of practical, living faith in
Doug and Julie Sayers. From the
very beginning of LukeÕs near drowning, they have faithfully witnessed for Christ
in the deepest kind of crisis.
Only time will show how many people will
be brought to Christ through LukeÕs condition and the testimony of his parents.
Prayer For Boldness To Proclaim The Gospel (3b): So that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for
which I am in chains.
Paul is asking for boldness to proclaim the gospel of Christ
to all men withnut compromise. The Òmystery of ChristÓ is that now in
the New Covenant era, the gospel is freely offered to Jews and Gentiles alike
and when they respond to Christ both Jews and Gentiles have equal spiritual
privileges in the New Covenant Church.
The mighty Paul, the greatest evangelist ever, the most
brilliant theologian in the history of the Christian Church requested prayer to
speak the gospel boldly. ÒPray
also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I
will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an
ambassador in chains. Pray that I
may declare it fearlessly, as I should.Ó (Eph. 6:19,20). Why did
Paul make this request? Because he
was at times afraid to proclaim Christ.
His knees shook like ours do some times when we speak of Christ. He hated rejection just like we
do. He was tempted to sugar coat
the gospel to be liked or for numbers just like we are at times. That is why he asked for their
prayers. He admitted his weakness
and need for prayer.
Because Paul fearlessly preached the truth of Christ to men,
because he said Jews and Gentiles were on equal footing in Christ, because he
dared to tell the world of heaven, hell and Christ, he was put in chains. That doesnÕt seem fair! That doesnÕt seem right! True,. but God is sovereign and often has higher purposes for His
servants. Had not Paul been in
prison, the high Roman officials and even Caesar would never have heard the
gospel, nor would the universal church have PaulÕs Prison Epistles, nor
would the universal church have the brilliant testimony of Paul that Christ is
sufficient in the worst kinds of circumstances. GodÕs children suffer for many hidden reasons, and all they
can say is what Job said centuries before: ÒThough He slay me. yet I will trust Him.Ó
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Prayer For Clarity To Proclaim The Gospel (4): Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. -
Paul not only needed boldness but. he needed to speak
Christ to men in a clear, concise and poignant manner. A good message proclaimed in a bad way
can do more harm than good. Zeal
without, knowledge is dangerous.
Boldness without an accurate way to present Christ can be disastrous. If we go all around RobinÕs Barn trying
to explain to people the greatest, the most exciting, the most satisfying
message in the world, then we have not been effective. You see. Paul in his dealings with
Roman officials may have had hours or only minutes to present his case, and he
had to present what he had to say about Christ clearly and accurately, so men
would clearly understand and believe, receiving the forgiveness of sins, escape
from judgment, eternal life, and the Holy Spirit for dynamic living.
WINNING THROUGH PRAY?
Prayer Is Important.
Prayer may seem to us like a little thing but in the eyes of God, it is
a big thing. Prayer is not to be
taken lightly or abused by mechanical and perfunctory habits (Col. 4:12). The church needs more agonizing in prayer and less organizing
to go forward. We can only win in
Christ if we persevere in prayer.
Prayer Is Not Selfish. Prayer is to
be offered up for others and not just for ourselves. Prayers that are always. ÒLord, I want this: I desire that:
I need those thingsÓ can produce very self-centered Christians. God wants Christians to pray for one
another.
Prayer Is Humbling. We must humble
ourselves and admit to our fellow Christians we have temptations, weaknesses in
our personalities and shortcomings in our Christian walk, and dare to ask for
prayer. IF we do this, people will
begin to prayer for us and we will see changes begin to come in our lives.
Prayer Is Evangelistic. We see how
PaulÕs request for prayer was not to get out of jail or to have an easier
prison situation, but that the gospel would be proclaimed. The prayers Paul wanted were not so
much for himself as for his work.
It is God who opens doors of opportunity and He does it through
prayer. It is God who saves people
but He works through our prayers.
The biggest lie the Devil has every propagated is that GodÕs elect will
come to faith in Christ no matter what Christians do. That is not true.
It is true that God has His elect (we do not know who they are) and the
elect come to faith in Christ through our witnessing and through our
prayers. God has appointed prayer
as a means to the salvation of His people and the continual help of
Christians.
Prayer is Real.
It is obvious that Paul would not have requested prayer for-himself and
others if he did not believe prayer was valid and really worked on God to move
in behalf of Christians. If Paul
believed in prayer, surely we can also.
We cannot read PaulÕs letters and not realize he was sold out to the
concept of a supernatural working God.
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J. Sidlow Baxter says, ÒMen may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.Ó
CONCLUSION
Are you a non-Christian? Are you not a believer in Christ? I have news for you.
Undoubtedly someone has and is praying for you that you might come to
Christ.
The prayer is that God may convict you of your sin and lost
condition, that God may draw you to Christ, that God may remove the blindness
from your eye so you can see Christ in all His glory, that God will
supernaturally work in you so that you will receive Jesus Christ as your Savior
and Lord.
What must you do to be saved? You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be
saved.