June 22, 2003 Colossians 4:2-6
“Pray!”
INTRODUCTION
For the last four months, we have been examining the letter that Paul wrote from his prison cell to the church at Colosse. Here at the end of the letter, just as we would when we write letters, he leaves his readers with the things that he most wants them to remember, the things that are most personal to him and the most dear to his heart. We’re going to deal with two of those things this morning – prayer and evangelism.
Prayer has been described as us talking to God about people. Probably each and every one of us would readily admit that we do not spend enough time in prayer. Prayer is a struggle. Our flesh resists it even though our spirit tells us how much we need it. We talk about it, we plan to do it, we want to do it, but when it comes time to pray, something gets in the way. The obstacle could be that we do not have a vital, growing relationship with God – maybe we haven’t ever begun a relationship with Him at all. So you have no motivation to talk with Him since you don’t know Him. Maybe the obstacle is pride – we don’t really see the need to pray. It could be that we see prayer as a chore, and like other chores, we avoid it as long as we possibly can and only do it when the stink gets unbearable. Or maybe we have no passion to pray because we are not convinced that prayer really changes things. The Bible says that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16) The persistence level of our prayer life calls into question whether or not we really believe that.
One woman was convinced that prayer changes things. She came to a missionary at Bengalore, India, asking him to interfere and prevent a certain native Christian from praying for her any more. When asked how she knew that the Christian was praying for her, she replied, "I used to perform my worship to the idols quite comfortably, but for some time past I have not been able to do so. Besides, he told me at the time that he was praying for my family, and now my son and two daughters have become Christians. If he goes on praying, he may make me, too, become a Christian. He is always bringing things to pass with his prayers. Somebody must make him stop." – SELECTED
Wouldn’t you like to see that kind of outcome to your prayers? Paul tells us four things that we need to include in our prayers in order for them to be powerful and effective.
1. PRAYER – talking to God about people. (vs. 2-4)
Pray with devotion
“Devote” means “to adhere firmly to”. Devotion means that you are stuck like glue to the object of your devotion. To separate you from that thing would require a great feat of strength. You don’t allow anything to come between you and the object of your devotion. And when something does manage to come between you, it upsets you – it tears you up just like trying to separate two pieces of paper that have been glued together.
Devotion is the opposite of the “hit and miss” attitude that we usually have toward prayer.
Devotion also has the idea of being “ready at all times”. Think of some things that you are devoted to. (family, job, WVU football games, favorite TV show). If you’re devoted to your family, you are ready to go at a moment’s notice when you get the opportunity to spend time with them. A true devoted WVU football fan is waiting on the curb when his buddy pulls up at the door to take him to the game. He doesn’t doddle around. He was ready to go yesterday. And he has this same kind of attitude even when he does not see the results that he would like to see on the scoreboard. You’ve heard stories about fans camping outside the ticket gates so that they can be the first one to get tickets for the concert of their favorite band or to be the first ones who see a movie that just came out. Paul says that’s the kind of attitude that we’re supposed to have when it comes to prayer.
In 1 Thes. 5:17, he says, “pray continually”. “Always be ready to break into prayer, and do it instantaneously, at all times.” If we are devoted to prayer and persistent in it, then we won’t need an introduction to God when some demand or crisis comes up.
A guy was on a plane that developed engine problems. His buddies knew that he used to go to church when he was a kid, so they begged him to pray. Finally, he gave in to their request and said these words, “Lord, I haven’t bothered you for 20 years, and if you get me out of this, I promise I’ll leave you alone for another 20 years.“
Being devoted to prayer puts us in some very good company. Jesus’ disciples “joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). The Christians of the early church “devoted themselves to…prayer” (Acts 2:42). Jesus was devoted to prayer. He “continued all night in prayer” (Luke 6:12).
What happened to these people who devoted themselves to prayer? God used them to turn “the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). God used them in dramatic ways. What do you think might happen in your life if you began to devote yourself to prayer?
“[When people wrestle with God in prayer] the most usual experience will be God’s decision to put to work the person who cried out to him…Whoever wrestles with God in prayer puts his whole life at stake. … Awful things happen to people who pray. Their plans are frequently disrupted. They end up in strange places.” – Virginia Owens as quoted in Christianity Today, Nov. 19, 1976
“One pastor, Thomas Elliff, decided to [take that risk and devote] his entire morning [to] prayer – no coffee break, no telephone, no meetings – just prayer. He writes, “At noon I opened the door to my study. I discovered a stranger waiting to visit for just a moment. “Pastor,” he said, “You don’t know me. I was driving by the church and something told me to come in here and ask you how I could get saved.” In a matter of minutes he was born into God’s family.” Elliff relates that this happened in a similar manner the next two days when he opened his study at noon. In the next two weeks over 100 individuals came forward during the invitation time, and half of them wanted to profess faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. - Terry Teykl, Making Room to Pray, p. 51.
Pray with watchfulness
Watch out for the enemy – (1 Pet 5:8) Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. On the night before His death, there in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples to “watch and pray that they not enter into temptation” (Matt. 26:40-41; Mark 14:34,38). “The disciples thought that it was just another evening, but as they dozed and struggled to keep their eyes open, the battle between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God was being waged in their midst.” We must not give in to the same temptation to think that all is well and let down our guard. The war in Iraq is over, but American soldiers are still dying. The war against Satan was won at the cross, but the battle rages on. Keep up your guard.
These verses on prayer follow directly on the heels of the portion dealing with family and job relationships. We talked about some pretty heavy requirements and expectations placed on fathers, mothers, children and employees. How can we live up to those expectations – through the power of God that is ours through prayer! Our job as parents, and especially as fathers is to protect our families. The enemy is after our children. We are supposed to be standing guard, being watchful over our children so that we can see the enemy coming when he is still far off.
Watch out for your neighbor – as you look at people, observe their lives, not so that you can find something to be critical about, but so that you can find something to pray about. You’ve got to pay attention to the spiritual needs of people around you. How much of your prayer time is devoted to praying for people who are unsaved?
When I go out prayer-walking, I look for things at each house to prompt me in what I should pray for them. If I see a weeping willow tree, I pray for the person in that home that might be going through grief. If I see a swingset, I pray for the children that they might remain safe from harm and that they might be receive good biblical training. If I see the sign of a fish on one of the cars in the driveway, I pray that the family there will be faithful witnesses to their neighbors. Become observant of the people around you so that you will know how to pray for them.
Watch out for God’s activity – find what God is doing in the world – in your world right around you; watch the news at night with a prayerful spirit. Usually, we pray with our eyes closed. Paul is telling us to pray “with our eyes open, looking for God’s actions around us – in our families, our workplaces, in the headlines” so that we can get involved in those areas where He is working right now.
Pray with thankfulness
In the middle of a forest, there was a hunter who was suddenly confronted with a huge, mean bear. In all his fears, his attempt to shoot the bear was unsuccessful. He turned away and started to run as
fast as he could. Finally, he ended up at the edge of a very steep cliff. His hopes were dim. But, believing in the power of prayer, he got on his knees, opened his arms and said, "My God! Please give this bear some religion!"
Then, there was a lightning in the air and the bear stopped just a foot short of the hunter. The bear was puzzled and looked up in the air and said, "Lord, for the food I am about to receive, I am truly thankful...
Do we have a right to expect God to answer our prayers and give us what we are asking for if we have not taken the time to thank Him for all that He has already done?
Paul puts his own preaching on praying with thankfulness into practice: (Col 1:3) “We always thank God…when we pray for you,”
(Col 1:12) “giving thanks to the Father...” (Col 2:7) “overflowing with thankfulness.”
Again, I remind you that Paul’s command to pray with thankfulness follows right after talking about family. The first thing that you need to thank God for is your family. A thankful spirit in the home will fix most of the problems that families experience. An unthankful spirit will create problems and will destroy the effectiveness of your prayers. According to 1 Pet. 3:7, when things are not right in the home because of your sin, your prayers won’t go any higher than the ceiling.
Pray with purpose
Our prayers are usually too vague and it is difficult for God to answer vague prayers in definite, recognizable ways. If our prayers consist of, “Lord, please bless _____”, how are we going to be able to tell if God actually answered that prayer. Our prayers need to be more specific. They need to have a purpose, because purpose yields passion, and passion produces results.
Do you remember where Paul was? He was in prison. If you were in prison and you were asking someone to pray for you, what would you have them pray? “Pray that the Lord sends and earthquake to open these prison doors like he did when Silas and I were in prison at Philippi.” “Pray that I will get some better food.” “Pray that the guards won’t beat me up every night.”
Paul was behind the closed door of a prison cell, but he wasn’t praying that his situation might become more bearable or that his prison door might be opened for his own personal freedom. He was praying for spiritual prisoners that the doors to their hearts might be opened and that they might be free.
In order for that to happen, he knew he needed two things. He needed open doors and he needed clear speech.
A door in the NT usually refers to an opportunity. (1 Cor 16:9) “a great door for effective work has opened to me [at Ephesus]...” (2 Cor 2:12) At Troas, Paul “found that the Lord had opened a door” for him. The reason that Paul felt it was necessary to pray for open doors is because he knew that it is God that opens doors. Rev. 3:7,8 describes God as the one “who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens” Paul craved the prayers of people because he knew it would lead to increased opportunities to proclaim the gospel message.
By praying for each other, “I can open the door for you, and you can open the door for me.” The reason that we do not have more opportunities for ministry is because we have not been praying for open doors.
Paul wanted open doors, and he expected that they would come because he expected that people would pray for him. But once those doors began to open, he would need something else to take full advantage of those opportunities. He would need clear and bold speech. (Eph 6:19) Pray 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. He needed boldness because speaking up for Jesus in his present situation carried great danger with it. Since Paul was in prison, and the only evangelistic contacts he had were with people who could inflict greater suffering on him, the temptation would be to soften the message and get tenuous about the sin and repentance part. It might not be a good idea to tell the guard that you are chained to that he is a sinner. That would require some boldness.
In Phil. 1, Paul talks about that he was glad because he had the opportunity to be able to minister to the Roman guard. You might say that he had a captive audience. Paul and this guard were chained together. The guard is thinking, “I can hit you at any time. I’ve got you just where I want you, Paul.” While Paul is thinking, “You have to sit there and listen to me sing, pray and talk about Jesus. I’ve got you right where I want you.” For Paul, there were no devastating circumstances, only unique opportunities.
Along with boldness, Paul asked them to pray that he would have clarity. Clarity is the ability to proclaim the mystery of Christ in such a way that people can understand it and see their own need for Jesus. He needed clarity because he was going to be speaking to people who were spiritually blind.
Paul did not consider himself so spiritual that he felt he did not need the prayers of the Colossians even though he had never personally heard any of them pray. He knew very little of their prayer-life, yet he felt that their prayers would be effective for his ministry.
He was right in going to the Colossians to pray for him. They did pray, and God answered their prayers. (Acts 28:30-31) For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
There was once a pastor who had a little five-year-old daughter. Now the little girl noticed that every time her dad stood behind the pulpit, and was getting ready to preach he would bow his head for moment before he began to preach. The little girl noticed that he did this every time.
So one day after the service the little girl went to her dad and asked him, “Why do you bow your head right before you preach your sermon?” “Well Honey” the preacher answered, “ I’m asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon.”
The little girl looked up at her father and asked, “Then how come he doesn’t do it?”
Folks, in order for me to effectively minister the message to you with boldness and in a clear, interesting way, I need your prayers. Would you please pray for me? I will not have open doors and I will not be able to communicate with clarity unless you are praying for me. [Call out the names of different people in the church and say, “_________, I need your prayers.” Include children and those who are not the pillars of the church.]
You can pray for me at home; you can pray for me here. Right now, in another part of this building, there is someone who is spending this hour in prayer for me and for you rather than joining us here in the auditorium. You can get involved in this ministry. You can sign up for a Sunday to pray and see what God will do. The sheet is on the table at the front door. I pray for you. You pray for me. Then watch God open the doors.
When you start to see prayer accomplishing things in your life and in the lives of people around you, it will make you more passionate about prayer. It’s kind of like gambling. What gets someone addicted to gambling is when they win a few times. Before you know it, they can’t stop gambling. Gambling is a lie; prayer is not. My desire is that you will see God work mightily as a result of your prayers and that you will become addicted to it.
TRAN: As important as prayer is, it is not enough. It must lead to the second thing that was dear to Paul’s heart – evangelism. Evangelism is us talking to people about God. When we have prayed with devotion, watchfulness, thankfulness and purpose, then we will discover that the Holy Spirit has made changes in the people around us. He will go before us to convict people’s hearts and open the doors of opportunity. That kind of prayer will also lead to some changes in us and how we communicate with people.
2. EVANGELISM – talking to people about God. (vs. 5-6)
Be careful what you communicate to people because what you say can either help you or hurt you.
A man went into a restaurant and ordered 2 full meals, the waitress said, “You must be hungry” He said, “no one’s for my brother,” and he pulled out of his pocket this little guy about 5 inches tall. She said, “Is he real?” “Sure” “Can he walk?” He said, “Hey Jake go get me that pack of sugar.” The little guy ran across the table and brought a packet of sugar back. “Can he eat?” “Sure” “hey Jake, eat on of those chips.” Jake climbed up got a chip out of the bowl and started munching on it. “Can he talk” “Sure”
“Jake tell about the time we went hunting in Africa and you called the witch doctor an idiot...”
We do not have the time to deal with this section in the same detail that we did the last, but let’s look at it quickly. When you’re dealing with people, you communicate in two different ways – with your actions and with your words.
Talk with your actions
What believers are gives credibility to what they say. Be careful not to say or do anything that would make it difficult for you to share the gospel. The world is watching us. People are making decisions about the validity of Christianity based on how we’re living. Let them see a difference in your life. Don’t shut the doors that God opens through your behavior. But rather, allow your behavior to be the means that God uses to open doors.
Talk with your words
If your actions are right, then you will earn a hearing. Don’t blow it by using words that are harsh, judgmental and hard to understand. Use words that are gracious, merciful and will make people want to hear more. “When we are gracious and appetizing, people will want an explanation” [much as they want an explanation – recipe – when we fix really appetizing food for them] (1 Pet 3:15) “...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
CONCLUSION
Some of you are sitting out there, and you are already thinking that there is no way that you are going to start praying like this. You’re scared to death that God might actually open a door for you and that you would have to step through.
An Arab chief tells a story of a spy who was captured and then sentenced to death by a general in the Persian army. This general had the strange custom of giving condemned criminals a choice between the FIRING SQUAD and the BIG, BLACK DOOR. As the moment for execution drew near, the spy was brought to the Persian general, who asked the question, “What will it be: the FIRING SQUAD, or the BIG, BLACK DOOR?” The spy hesitated for a long time. It was a difficult decision. He chose the FIRING SQUAD. Moments later shots rang out confirming his execution. The general turned to his aide and said, “They always prefer the known way to the unknown. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the unknown. Yet, we gave him a choice.” The aide said, “What lies beyond the BIG, BLACK DOOR?” “FREEDOM”, replied the general.
On the other side of that door, there is freedom from sin for people that you know, and freedom from powerless and ineffective prayers for you.
“Paul was in prison. But because he sought the prayerful support of others and made himself available to opportunities he still was used by God. Paul was in chains, but we are free. Where do we go and with whom do we have contact that with a prayerful attitude and a willing spirit could become an opportunity for God’s power to be revealed through us? Our role, like Paul’s, is simply this: to be ready and willing.”
INVITATION
Invite people to bring the names of people that they want to pray for in order that they might have an open door of opportunity.
