Paul’s View of Requesting Prayer<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Col 4:2-9<\/p>\n 2 <\/sup><\/strong>Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3<\/sup>praying 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<\/sup> that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.<\/strong><\/p>\n 5<\/sup><\/strong>Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6<\/sup> Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.<\/strong><\/p>\n 7<\/sup><\/strong>As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. 8<\/sup>For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; 9<\/sup>and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 As all of us know, there are other passages about prayer that should be considered in the practice of our prayer life.\u00a0 Also, something was commented in the class that everyone needs to hear.\u00a0 Judy reminded me about a book called \u201cThe Fight\u201d by John White that addressed the Christian life.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I had forgotten the comment but I have often practiced the principle in my life.\u00a0 When the day gets too busy, I can hear God\u2019s prompting to stop and pray.\u00a0 God is calling every believer to a closer walk with Him, He is inviting us into fellowship.\u00a0 Our responsibility is to continue to respond to God, not to find the initiative to kick-start a prayer.\u00a0 God has already started the conversation.<\/p>\n 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?\u00a0 What does a spiritual man pray for?\u00a0 This week, I would guess that there is a lot of prayer being said about the lotto.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 BTW, that money didn\u2019t just appear.\u00a0 It is the combined effort of American\u2019s 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Just so you know, God doesn\u2019t need the lotto to accomplish what He wants to accomplish.\u00a0 So in case you are in that group that is praying that way, it\u2019s kind of like asking me to mow your lawn and promising all the lima beans I can eat.\u00a0 I really don\u2019t need any more lima beans in my life. God doesn\u2019t require Lotto funds in order to accomplish His goals.<\/p>\n Now when Paul says, praying at the same time, there appears to be a knowledge of the fact that these believers are already praying.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It is not difficult to picture what else they are praying for but let\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 3<\/sup><\/strong>praying at the same time for us as well. <\/strong>Paul requests that these believers add him to their list.\u00a0 There is a clear indication that Paul understands that the people who read his letter will be praying.\u00a0 We often hear talk about how we should pray and honestly, we talked about that last night.\u00a0 But if you really have an interest to learn how to pray, align yourself to the Nike slogan \u2013 \u201cJust do it!\u201d\u00a0 And notice that Paul doesn\u2019t have any of what we might refer to as false humility about his need for prayer \u2013 he comes right out and asks for it.\u00a0 That is because he has absolutely no doubt about the fact that prayer is the source of power in his ministry.\u00a0 It is no big secret but we live as though it might be, prayer is THE source of power in any ministry.\u00a0 Ask any missionary who attempted raise funds \u2013 \u201cTell me, what was the biggest lesson you learned while raising funds to go out to the mission field?\u201d\u00a0 The good ones will tell you that they learned to be dependent on God. Who needs to talk to the rotten ones anyway?\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n But I do want to spend just a moment on Paul\u2019s humility to request prayer for something that he knows is much larger for himself, and that is his mission.\u00a0 He would no doubt have welcomed prayers about his imprisonment or his health.\u00a0 But look at what he asks specifically about: that God will open up to us a door for the word.<\/strong> He asks for prayer that God would open the door and not the door for something that would open the floodgates of heaven\u2019s wealth, but the door for the word.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s first request is the one that comes to mind is God\u2019s work.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 For many of us, we are praying for family, and rightly so.\u00a0 It is not wrong to pray for those we love, but how much sweeter to pray for God\u2019s work in our world and in other worker\u2019s in God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 Paul request identifies how a ministry works.\u00a0 It works because God opens the door.\u00a0 And the most effectual ministry happens when God opens up a door for the word.\u00a0 It is the word that changes things in the lives of others because it is the Word that reveals God to mankind.\u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0 We know things about God\u2019s word \u2013 such as . . . . And yet, we are not always the people of God\u2019s word that we would desire to be.\u00a0 God speaks through you and I.\u00a0 When Christ, the Living Word is living in us and through us, God is still opening up a door for the word.\u00a0 People may not always understand what they read \u2013 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\u2019t understand what he was reading.\u00a0 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?\u00a0 Why are you so different?\u00a0 And you should be ready to give an answer to the hope that lies within you.\u00a0 They are acting like the eunuch, they are saying, \u201cI am reading this life, but I don\u2019t understand why it is so different?\u00a0 Can you explain how you are the way you are to me?<\/p>\n Paul desires to share about Christ.\u00a0 \u201cSo that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 There might have been a few things that people knew about Jesus.\u00a0 They had probably heard of this crucified Jew.\u00a0 They might have even heard about what a great teacher he was and how many people were now following this Jew.\u00a0 They might have heard stories about how He was raised from the dead but it didn\u2019t all come together.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t 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.\u00a0 Paul even mentioned several of the remarkable mysteries of the early church, but once you begin to grasp the importance of Christ\u2019s death, burial and resurrection, the other things begin to fall into place.\u00a0 But until that point, the whole thing is just impossible to grasp.\u00a0 In fact, the Bible tells us as much when it reminds us that the gospel is to those who are perishing \u201cfoolishness\u201d.\u00a0 Paul wanted to proclaim that mystery to those who God opened the door.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t imprisoned because the wrong emperor had been in put in power it was the mystery of Christ – for which I have also been imprisoned.\u00a0 <\/strong>He wasn\u2019t 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.\u00a0 That purpose explained everything else in his world.\u00a0 Everything that happened was because he pursued his goal, which was to speak forth the mystery of Christ.\u00a0 He lived for God\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n And you might believe that someone like Paul always had the exact words to say in every situation.\u00a0 Sometimes we believe that about the people we admire.\u00a0 We think that Pastor Rob always knows what to say and how to say it.\u00a0 I can promise you this:\u00a0 That Pastor Rob would clearly tell you that he needs wisdom to make it clear in the way I ought to speak.<\/strong>\u00a0 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.\u00a0 When Jesus promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against it.\u00a0 No gate or door will be able to resist the power of God.\u00a0 You are not the one that will be breaking down doors and gates, God is.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n So now that Paul has discussed how to behave in prayer and in God\u2019s presence, he moves forward to how we are to conduct ourselves in the presence of those non-believers.\u00a0 We will look at that next week.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Paul’s View of Requesting Prayer \u00a0 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 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[83],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1670,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669\/revisions\/1670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}