On our vacation, I asked God to open some doors for me to give a clear word about Christ. I was looking for opportunities. Let me share a story with you about one of them.
I was in a pool playing around with Evan, our ten-year-old son, when a man asked me, “Are you finding you way around here OK?” I’d almost forgotten that when we had arrived at our vacation spot, I had asked him for some directions.
We chatted for a while and I was looking for an open door. As I asked about the kind of work he did, he said, “I run a company that sells a lot of office equipment… especially to churches.” Well, that was an easy entrée to talk about spiritual things. I think God answered my prayer for an open door. I had a very clear opportunity to share Christ.
Since I know where he’s staying, I just sent him a follow-up note. Here’s some of what it says:
Dear Bob,
I wanted to thank you for being so helpful and hospitable for my family and me. I’m the guy who you pointed in the right direction while you were washing your car and who had a conversation with you in the pool one day.
As I sit here writing, I just prayed that God will heal you wife’s wrist quickly and completely. [She had fallen a few days earlier and shattered her wrist.] I also prayed for your health. I noticed a scar on your chest that I presume was from an open heart surgery in the past.
I recall that we talked about the Chicago bishop who was dying of cancer with
such blazing faith. As you remember, I mentioned that a hope of heaven is not secured through religion, but through relationship. Religion is spelled “DO” because it’s based on what we do to be right with God. But a relationship is spelled “DONE” because it’s based on what Jesus did when He died and rose again for us.
Enclosed, please find a booklet that explains very clearly how to have a relationship – a friendship – with God that will last for all eternity. If you have any question, please call or email me.
It was a pleasure to meet you and your wife. I believe God orchestrated our meeting for His divine reasons. Thanks again for your warm smile and helpful hospitality.
Sincerely,
Rick Duncan
Now, what’s going to happen with Bob? I wish I could tell you he got down on his knees right beside the pool and invited Jesus into his heart. I wish I could tell you we heard the angels singing the Hallelujah chorus because he repented. I wish I could tell you that I baptixed he and his wife right then and there! None of that happened. Only God knows what’s really going on in Bob’s heart. But I’m optimistic. Why? I think God opened the door for a clear word about Jesus for Bob.
This morning, I want you to think about a friend at work or in your neighborhood or at school who is far away from God. Some of you have members of your own family who are far away from God. If your friend were God’s friend how would their life be different? If your friend were God’s friend how would your relationship with each other change? If your friend were God’s friend how would you feel about their eternal destiny?
Helping your friend become God’s friend
Text: Colossians 4:2-6, p.158
Series: The Truth about truth in a “whatever” world
We’re coming to the close of this series through Colossians. Next week is Labor Day weekend and we’ll be dealing with a section in Colossians that deals with work – what kind of boss you ought to be, what kind of employee you ought to be.
Today, helping your friend become God’s friend. We each have the privilege and responsibility to be a vital part of that process.
Christ has changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.
II Corinthians 5:18 (Today’s English Version)
Once we are His, God uses us to reach others.
He saves us and then sends us.
Jesus calls us not only to come to Him, but to go for Him.
We have been sent to speak for Christ.
II Corinthians 5:20 (NCV)
That means you and that means me. And it meant a man named Paul, the writer of this letter. When Colossians was written, Paul was suffering in a Roman prison because he had been trying so hard to make friends for God in a world that was hostile to God. In this paragraph, he offers up a prayer request. You expect him to ask people to pray that he’d get out of jail. But this isn’t even mentioned in his request.
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 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: that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be seasoned with grace, as tough as with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
Colossians 4:2-6
I think that from this paragraph we learn two things about praying for our friends to become God’s friends. 1. How I should pray. 2. What I should pray.
How should I pray so my friend will become God’s friend?
I must pray with…
1. … a relentless will.
Devote yourselves to prayer…
Colossians 4:2a
Devote. It’s a word that means “continuous care.” When you are devoted to something, you have a passion for it.
Always maintain the habit of prayer.
Colossians 4:2a (J.B. Phillips translation)
Be persistent in prayer…
Colossians 4:2a (Today’s English Version)
This is the opposite of hit-and-miss. It means an earnest and serious pursuit in prayer, not just casual contact. It’s pressing on; not giving up.
Some of our friends don’t know Christ as a friend because we don’t devote ourselves to pray for them. We might be frustrated and angry with them. We might feel sorry for them. We might argue with them and nag them. Sometimes, we cave into their peer pressure. But do we pray for them? When was the last time you spent even three minutes praying that your friend will come to Christ?
If I want my friend to become God’s friend, I must pray with a relentless will and …
2. … an alert mind.
Devote yourselves to prayer…keeping alert in it…
Colossians 4:2b
Alert. It means “give strict attention to.” “Keeping alert” also means “staying awake.” It’s referring to a mental alertness to the dangers that people without Christ are facing.
“Lord, I have this friend who needs you… [Yawn and go to sleep].” Do you think this kind of praying moves the heart and hand of God? Ephesians 6:18 says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions… be alert and always keep on praying…”
Being vigilant in it…
NKJV
Being alert and intent in your praying…
Amplified
Pay attention when you offer prayers.
God’s Word
Why? Unless our friends become friends of God, they are facing sudden disaster one day. Forever they will be separated from God and from you. So, we keep our minds alert in prayer for them.
Take heed, keep on the alert: for you do not know when the appointed time will come… Be on the alert for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning… what I say to you, I say to all, “Be on the alert!”
Mark 13:33, 35, 37
We have to be alert like a guard who is on duty at the edge of a military camp at night. If we go to sleep in this job the enemy can overthrow our mission. John Piper says that this is the kind of praying that is so often missing. We have settled into the world and are just using prayer as a domestic intercom (“Just checking in with you, God”) instead of a wartime walkie-talkie (“Lord, send some reinforcements down here. The battle is real and the eternal destiny of my friend is on the line”).
We have to remember how tremendously serious the battle is. Heaven and hell are hanging in the balance for some of your friends. So be watchful, awake, vigilant!
If I want my friend to become God’s friend, I must pray with a relentless will, an alert mind and …
3. … a grateful heart.
Devote yourselves to prayer…keeping alert in it… with an attitude of thanksgiving;
Colossians 4:2c
With thanksgiving. A grateful heart will keep us alert and alive in our prayer life in two ways.
We must be grateful for what God has already done. Don’t pray for God to open a door of faith for others without remembering that He did this very thing for you! When we pray that others will be God’s friends, isn’t the passion in our prayers a mirror of how thankful we are that we are God’s friends? If we don’t feel thankful for the time when God opened the door of our heart, then how can we pray with a relentless will and an alert mind for others? Be thankful that you are God’s friend and you will pray with new passion for others. We must be grateful for what God has already done.
We must be thankful for what God is going to do. Not just what he has done for us, but for what He will do in answer to prayer for our friends. Praying with an attitude of thanksgiving means that we are to pray with expectant faith. Be thanking God in advance for what He is going to do. “I don’t know how You are going to do it, but I thank You in advance for helping my friend become your friend.”
Maintain your zest for prayer by thanksgiving.
Moffatt
A relentless will, an alert mind, a grateful heart. This is how we must pray! There’s more.
What should I pray so my friend becomes God’s friend?
Three things. I must pray for…
1. … an open door
… praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word,
Colossians 4:3a
A door for the word. Paul knew that when this door is open, God’s word flows into the hearts, minds, and lives of individuals and communities.
When we pray God changes circumstances so that our paths cross the paths of those who need Christ. He changes the attitudes of people who were hard and closed so they will be soft and receptive. Instead of hitting a brick wall, the Word of God finds an open door and becomes unusually effective.
As John Piper says, “Pray the locks off of peoples’ hearts!” Pray open the doors so that your friends will be willing to come to our services. Pray that God will open the doors of their hearts to faith. Pray that all of God’s people on mission – whether overseas, at CVCC or other ministries here in NE Ohio, and in the marketplace – will have open doors to share the word of God with friends.
God opens the door according to His sovereign grace. Sometimes we can fail to understand this and try to open doors ourselves. Don’t force things. But be very sensitive to follow God’s leadings as to who we ought to be talking to.
Our prayer can go something like this: “Lord, where is a door open for the word for me to share right now? Who is ready to hear the truth?”
If I want my friend to become God’s friend, I must pray for an open door and …
2. … a clear word.
…so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned: that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
Colossians 4:3b-4
The verb translated “make it clear” literally means “reveal” or “make manifest.”
Not only is there a need for God to open doors, there has to be something clear and powerful to send through the door. It’s the Word of God, the mystery of Christ, the truth about the truth. This is the way for you to pray for pastors, for vocalists, for VBS workers, for Sunday School teachers, for Small Group leaders, and any others who share the Word of God. We must make things clear!
Some one said, “If there’s a mist in the pulpit there’ll be a fog in the pew.” Please pray that God will take our feeble efforts to explain the truth and make the word of God clear to those who listen.
On a graffiti wall at St. John’s University in Minnesota were these words:
Jesus said to them, “Who do you say that I am?” And they replied,
“You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our interpersonal relationships.”
And Jesus said, “What?”
I believe that complex, hard-to-understand ideas don’t even belong in a seminary classroom. Jesus was God in the flesh and He didn’t teach over the heads of the people. Jesus was profound, but simple. To use an old saying, He put the cookies on the lowest shelf, where anyone could reach them. And so must we. We can’t show off our Bible knowledge (the little that we have) or our vocabulary and still teach as Jesus taught.
On a personal note: I really do need your prayers! If Paul could imagine himself speaking the word of God in a way that was not clear and bold and powerful, how much more can I imagine that for myself? Think of it: the greatest preacher and missionary who ever lived (besides the Lord Jesus) said that the effectiveness of his preaching depended on the prayers of the church. If that is true for Paul, it is true a thousand times over for me. What happens next Sunday morning when I stand here before you and what will happen week after week depends in great measure on how you pray for me.
To get through to people the way Jesus got through to them we must make things clear.
If I want my friend to become God’s friend, I must pray for an open door, a clear word, and …
3. … an attractive life.
These are verses that encourage practical wisdom in dealing with people who are not Christ-followers. Here are the words that ought to describe us. Winsome, attractive, appealing, fascinating, captivating, interesting, and endearing. Listen to the way Paul puts it.
Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.
Colossians 4:5
Opportunity. When God opens the door for us to share, that’s our opportunity to make friends for God. How many opportunities to share with our friends do we miss? Many times the opportunity is right in front of us... right next to us. The opportunity may work in the grocery store. The opportunity may cut your hair this week. The opportunity may be someone who is sick or lonely. Or someone in a pool.
I’ve heard people say, “My faith is a private matter.” If it’s private, it’s not New Testament faith. Personal, yes; private, no.
Look for the opportunity! Making the most. The phrase really means an “intensive buying. Every opportunity is to be snapped up like a bargain.
But you can’t make the most of the opportunity unless you conduct yourself with wisdom. Our lives ought to give non-believers a positive impression of the truth about Jesus. Let’s not give the world a reason to criticize or gossip about our lives. A blameless life lays the foundation for a gracious witness.
We are constantly under the critical eye of these “outsiders.” What will give them a favorable impression? What’s one sign that we are conducting ourselves wisely? How can we make the most of our opportunities? Look at verse 6.
Let your speech always be seasoned with grace, as tough as with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
Colossians 4: 6
I’m sure you have found that some people who share their faith are obnoxious. The way they share their faith is a turn-off. Unfortunately, that kind of approach is not only unwise, it’s also sinful. We all know people who won’t listen to others talk about Christ anymore because someone crammed a Bible down their throats.
We are told not to needlessly antagonize or alienate people who don’t know Christ. Let’s face it. Some people are going to say “no.” But let’s make sure that they are tuning out the message, not the methods.
Verse 6 talks about salty speech. Think about the uses of salt. Salt was a preservative. That means that our words ought to act as a purifying, wholesome influence, preserving a decaying culture. The crude, course, profane, swearing talk with outsiders has got to go. And salt added flavor. That means that our conversations with outsiders should be enjoyable to them just like as food is made tasty with salt. A dull, holier-than-thou approach to people is not good. Work at making your witness interesting and colorful.
I looked at several other versions of verse 6. Listen to these three.
Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone.
Colossians 2:6 (Today’s English Version)
Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.
Colossians 2:6 (New Living Translation)
Everything you say should be kind and well thought out so that you know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 2:6 (God’s Word Translation)
Your life is the only Bible some people will read. The word “answer” implies that outsiders will ask us about our lives. People ought to ask. If people aren’t asking you questions about how you live the joyous way you live, then your life isn’t attractive enough.
You need to know how to make reply to each individual. The same answer will not do in every case. Your conversation must be appropriate for, and exactly adapted to, each individual person.”
An open door, a clear word, an attractive life. This is what I must pray for if I want my friend to be God’s friend.
The human key that may very well unlock the blessing of God’s power and grace in our services this fall is steadfast, watchful, thankful prayer. If we pray steadfastly throughout the fall, and with wakefulness, and with expectant thankfulness, this text gives us strong hope that God will open a door for the Word next week so that faith will come to many people.
That is the first thing we should pray for our friends: that God would work in all the circumstances surrounding our special services this fall, including the hearts of those who come – that He will open a wide and effective door for the Word of God.
* * *
Will you pray this prayer for the next two weeks?
Pray the way you would if you knew that a hundred unbelievers this next fall will hear the good news about Jesus for the very last time.
O Father, please let me live an attractive life in front of my friend, __________ . Open the door for a clear word about Christ Jesus. Make my friend Your friend. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
