MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: Colossians 4:2-6; 2 Kings 6:8-23
Colossians 4:2-6 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful & thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
“Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
I BEING WATCHFUL
Watching & praying are often associated in the Bible. Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, asked his Disciples to watch & pray with him as he prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane. I think Jesus was asking them more than simply to stay awake & pray.
But they fell asleep. Jesus told them “pray that you enter not into temptation.” I think this was more than just an encouragement to pray. I think Jesus wanted them to experience the results of prayer.
Prayer changes your perspective. It can change the way you look at yourself & the world around you. I can’t help but wonder what might have happened if the Disciples had stayed awake with Jesus & prayed that night.
ILL. And that reminds me of one of the most amazing events of God’s intervention in warfare in the Old Testament. It’s found in the 6th chapter of 2 Kings.
The Kingdom of Aram, roughly the area we call Syria today, was at war with the Kingdom of Israel. But every time the King of Aram sent his army against Israel, probing to find a weak spot for invading Israel, he found the army of Israel already there in force, dug in & ready to fight.
It happened so often that he came to the conclusion that there must be a traitor among his army officers.
But his officers protested, & one of them said that the God of Israel must be telling the Prophet Elisha their plans & Elisha was telling the King of Israel. So the King of Aram said, “Get Elisha! Capture him & bring him to me!”
So the King of Aram sent a large force that invaded Israel by night & surrounded the city in which Elisha lived. Then early in the morning when the servant of Elisha awoke & saw the enemy army, he was terrified.
So Elisha prayed for his servant “Lord, open his eyes so he can see.” The servant looked & saw horses & chariots of fire in the sky surrounding them all.
Well, I could go on & tell you what happened next & how the raids against Israel stopped without any bloodshed at all. But if you really want to know, as I said, it is found in 2 Kings 6:8-23.
My point is that our prayer should be that the Lord give us eyes to see things, not necessarily the way the servant saw them, but as God sees them - to grant us His perspective. Prayer wakes us up to the spiritual realities around & within us. This is its first purpose.
II BEING THANKFUL
Another purpose for prayer is that we become truly thankful.
ILL. A preacher is invited to a family’s home for Sunday Dinner. Almost before everyone is seated, the children start grabbing & eating. The embarrassed mother gives them a quick reprimand, & the children stare back at her in confusion. The preacher is then asked to pray. And he does.
The mother explains, “We don’t always pray before meals.” To the minister this is fairly obvious. The mother adds, “We just take it for granted that God knows how thankful we are!”
“God knows how thankful we are!” That was her excuse at the dinner table. But the trouble with that attitude is that it is not confined to the dinner table.
Then the question arises, “Why pray at all if God knows all that we need?” Some may even quote Jesus when He said that God knows all that we need before we even ask Him.
So why should we pray? Well, one reason is that when we pray, we pray to communicate with our Lord. Prayer is an opportunity to share the most deeply felt needs of our lives, & express to God the gratitude, praise, & joy we feel, & for His precious gift of salvation.
Yet, remembering to pray is not my biggest problem. I don’t know about you, but I confess that I am more likely to burden God with my requests, & focusing on the things that are not right that concern us, more than focusing on thanking Him for the things that are good.
There is so much for which to be thankful - for life, health, family, friends, the goodness of God, the gift of His Son & of His Holy Spirit, forgiveness. This list could go on & on.
Besides the mental, social, physical & spiritual benefits of prayer, we should never pray without thanking God. That would be ungrateful of us.
III BEING EFFECTIVE
Paul was not only praying for those who would read his letter, He was also asking them to pray for him. Listen to his words again:
“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”
I want you to notice, Paul was an Apostle - someone with good news he wanted to tell. So he asks for prayer that he would be effective in sharing about Jesus even when he was in prison.
ILL. There is a story of a Hindu woman who was converted & became a Christian. She suffered a lot of persecution from her husband. A missionary asked her what she did when her husband became angry with her.
She replied that she cooked his food better. When he complained, she swept the floor cleaner.
When he spoke unkindly, she answered him mildly. She tried to show him that when she became a Christian she became a better wife & mother.
We live in a world that is often hostile to Christ, or worse still, indifferent to Him. Too often some Christians so closely identify themselves with the world by their words, their actions, their lack of action, that their lives can hardly be distinguished from non-Christians.
Another response some Christians attempt to make is to shut out the world entirely & live in their own little, private, well-protected world.
Neither of these is the best response. The best response is for Christians to be faithful witnesses to the world. We live in the world. We make our living in the world. We associate with the people of the world. Therefore we should give a good witness of our faith to the world.
Our faith should be the guiding principle for our lives. Our encounter with God in worship gives us strength & power for daily living. Our character, growing out of our relationship of faith in God, gives silent but eloquent witness of the meaning of faith & salvation.
Through the way we live our lives we are “salespeople” for our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.
ILL. Someone once said “Faith lives or dies not by what goes on in churches, but by what, as a result of the churches, goes on outside of them.”
That is what the apostle Paul meant by vs’s 5 & 6. He urged them, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders,” (meaning those who are outside the Christian fellowship). He had both an offensive & defensive purpose in mind.
The defensive purpose was to protect the good name of the Christian community. The offensive purpose was to reach out to outsiders & draw them into Christian fellowship & to faith in Christ. This is still our witness to the World.
a. We should take every opportunity to witness.
ILL. J A Broadus said, “Opportunity is like a swift horse that pauses for one moment by our side. If we fail to mount the horse in that moment, we can hear the clatter of its hooves down the corridors of time.”
b. We should walk with wisdom in our witness.
Paul’s instructions in Colossians 4:5-6 may be a gentle warning about the methods of witness. We must use wisdom & discretion in presenting Christ to those who do not know Him.
As our conduct is marked by grace so our speech should be marked by grace. Grace implies kindness, good will & tact. This is the kind of talk that witnesses for Christ – kind, courteous, tactful, not loud, coarse or rude.
Then Paul goes on to give some practical wisdom to those who would read his letter:
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
Our desire should be that we have not only the opportunity, but also the wisdom & courage to live in such a way that we are sharing the love of Jesus to those around us.
Now let me ask you, “What is your occupation?” Are you also praying that you would be capable of sharing about Jesus in whatever you do? Almost every occupation is an opportunity to give witness concerning God, if we do it well.
Are you in business? Do business wisely & honestly. Are you a musician? Make music that draws people to a higher calling & purpose, & do it with such excellence that the world takes notice.
In all things, be effective so that your life creates opportunities to show people the goodness of our God.
ILL. There is an old hymn written by Clara Scott that is a prayer set to music. And whenever I sing it I want to sing it as a prayer from my heart to God. It begins with these words:
"Open my eyes that I may see Glimpses of truth You have for me; Place in my hands the wonderful key, That shall unclasp & set me free. Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my God, Your will to see; Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!"
Now will you bow your heads with me as I pray?
Father, Thank you! Thank you for life, for your love, & your truth. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the cross & all it means for us. Thank you for love & joy & all the other gifts of your Holy Spirit. Thank you for the brief time you’ve given us on this planet to enjoy its bounty. Thank you for the promised hope we have in you.
And Father, please make my life count. Use me at home, & here in Ridge Chapel, & in every relationship I have, to draw people to You & your love in Jesus Christ. Shine your light in me & through me & use me to help others see your Light divine.
And Please, Father, make this world a better place because you’ve placed me here upon it.
And Father, in the name of Jesus, our Savior, I pray this - not only for myself, but also for everyone who may hear my voice. Father, I love You, I know You love me. Thank You, thank You, thank You! Amen.
INVITATION HYMN: “Open My Eyes”
(The inspiration for this sermon came from an excellent message by Ken Henson on Sermon Central.)
