Paul’s View of Requesting Prayer
Col 4:2-9
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
5Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
7As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. 8For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; 9and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.
We have spent some time talking about how we approach God through prayer but I want to remind anyone who might be reading this or in the class, that this is just an attempt to discuss this passage. As all of us know, there are other passages about prayer that should be considered in the practice of our prayer life. Also, something was commented in the class that everyone needs to hear. Judy reminded me about a book called “The Fight” by John White that addressed the Christian life. One of the main takeaways from that book was the principle that our prayer life is not one where we need to initiate prayer with God. Our prayer life does not start with us but we are called to respond to God as He calls us to join with Him in prayer. I had forgotten the comment but I have often practiced the principle in my life. When the day gets too busy, I can hear God’s prompting to stop and pray. God is calling every believer to a closer walk with Him, He is inviting us into fellowship. Our responsibility is to continue to respond to God, not to find the initiative to kick-start a prayer. God has already started the conversation.
After Paul addresses how we are to approach God, the next portion seems like it naturally follows as we ask once we are in conversation (prayer) with God, what are some valid requests or concerns to bring before the throne of Grace? What does a spiritual man pray for? This week, I would guess that there is a lot of prayer being said about the lotto. I am not sure if it was won this week or not, but the last I heard, it was up to 1.3 Billion dollars. BTW, that money didn’t just appear. It is the combined effort of American’s desire to win something for next to nothing, although I would guess some are spending a lot more than nothing in their attempt to win. But I would guess that many who played did ask God for a portion of that pie, and might have even promised God something if they did win. Just so you know, God doesn’t need the lotto to accomplish what He wants to accomplish. So in case you are in that group that is praying that way, it’s kind of like asking me to mow your lawn and promising all the lima beans I can eat. I really don’t need any more lima beans in my life. God doesn’t require Lotto funds in order to accomplish His goals.
Now when Paul says, praying at the same time, there appears to be a knowledge of the fact that these believers are already praying. I am not sure what that is and since the text gives me no indication what it is, anything I mention is mainly a guess based on other passages. It is not difficult to picture what else they are praying for but let’s look at the list that Paul wants to add to their list of prayer requests. This would be a good sense to know how to pray for your missionaries.
3praying at the same time for us as well. Paul requests that these believers add him to their list. There is a clear indication that Paul understands that the people who read his letter will be praying. We often hear talk about how we should pray and honestly, we talked about that last night. But if you really have an interest to learn how to pray, align yourself to the Nike slogan – “Just do it!” And notice that Paul doesn’t have any of what we might refer to as false humility about his need for prayer – he comes right out and asks for it. That is because he has absolutely no doubt about the fact that prayer is the source of power in his ministry. It is no big secret but we live as though it might be, prayer is THE source of power in any ministry. Ask any missionary who attempted raise funds – “Tell me, what was the biggest lesson you learned while raising funds to go out to the mission field?” The good ones will tell you that they learned to be dependent on God. Who needs to talk to the rotten ones anyway? Paul knows that it makes sense to ask someone to pray because those who do pray understand the value and the role of prayer in the life of any ministry.
But I do want to spend just a moment on Paul’s humility to request prayer for something that he knows is much larger for himself, and that is his mission. He would no doubt have welcomed prayers about his imprisonment or his health. But look at what he asks specifically about: that God will open up to us a door for the word. He asks for prayer that God would open the door and not the door for something that would open the floodgates of heaven’s wealth, but the door for the word. Paul’s first request is the one that comes to mind is God’s work. That can be a bit of a measure of where our heart is, the first item that comes to mind when we have a prayer request. For many of us, we are praying for family, and rightly so. It is not wrong to pray for those we love, but how much sweeter to pray for God’s work in our world and in other worker’s in God’s kingdom. Paul request identifies how a ministry works. It works because God opens the door. And the most effectual ministry happens when God opens up a door for the word. It is the word that changes things in the lives of others because it is the Word that reveals God to mankind. Sure, nature speaks of God, but the Scriptures speak louder and clearer than the most remarkable sunrise, or if you prefer the evenings, the most remarkable sunset. We know things about God’s word – such as . . . . And yet, we are not always the people of God’s word that we would desire to be. God speaks through you and I. When Christ, the Living Word is living in us and through us, God is still opening up a door for the word. People may not always understand what they read – remember the story of the Ethiopian eunuch? He was actually reading the Bible but God opened a door for him to have the limited understanding that he didn’t understand what he was reading. Have you ever thought that your life reads like certain passages in the Bible, and people might be reading (seeing) Christ in your life and might ask you, what is with you? Why are you so different? And you should be ready to give an answer to the hope that lies within you. They are acting like the eunuch, they are saying, “I am reading this life, but I don’t understand why it is so different? Can you explain how you are the way you are to me?
Paul desires to share about Christ. “So that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ.” There might have been a few things that people knew about Jesus. They had probably heard of this crucified Jew. They might have even heard about what a great teacher he was and how many people were now following this Jew. They might have heard stories about how He was raised from the dead but it didn’t all come together. They didn’t quite get the whole picture. The person of Jesus Christ and the reason He died and was born again had to be confusing to the average Roman citizen. Paul even mentioned several of the remarkable mysteries of the early church, but once you begin to grasp the importance of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, the other things begin to fall into place. But until that point, the whole thing is just impossible to grasp. In fact, the Bible tells us as much when it reminds us that the gospel is to those who are perishing “foolishness”. Paul wanted to proclaim that mystery to those who God opened the door. To the rich like the eunuch and the poor like the beggar by the well. Paul believed so much in the mystery of Christ, that it was his purpose and the reason everything else fell into place. He wasn’t imprisoned because the wrong emperor had been in put in power it was the mystery of Christ – for which I have also been imprisoned. He wasn’t shipwrecked because of a freak storm of nature, his life was governed by the desire and even the need to speak for the mystery of Christ. That purpose explained everything else in his world. Everything that happened was because he pursued his goal, which was to speak forth the mystery of Christ. He lived for God’s purpose.
And you might believe that someone like Paul always had the exact words to say in every situation. Sometimes we believe that about the people we admire. We think that Pastor Rob always knows what to say and how to say it. I can promise you this: That Pastor Rob would clearly tell you that he needs wisdom to make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Even people who are full time in the role of ministry will attest they need your prayers for wisdom and the ability to recognize that door when God opens it. When Jesus promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against it. No gate or door will be able to resist the power of God. You are not the one that will be breaking down doors and gates, God is. And you really need to know that God is the power behind anything that you accomplish for Him, and the way to touch God is to begin your efforts in His presence, in prayer.
So now that Paul has discussed how to behave in prayer and in God’s presence, he moves forward to how we are to conduct ourselves in the presence of those non-believers. We will look at that next week.