Steadfast Prayer, Faithful Witness

ES Col 4:2-6 Steadfast Prayer, Faithful Witness

As the redeemed of Christ, we are called to live out God’s design for our lives.

• This is possible because we have a new life with Christ and a reconciled relationship with God our Father.

• Paul concludes his letter with an encouragement to his readers to be faithful in prayer and their witness for Christ.

We see two broad exhortations here – one, to SPEAK TO GOD in prayer and

two, to SPEAK TO THE WORLD for Christ.

Col 4:2-4

2Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison — 4that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

1. SPEAKING TO GOD FOR THE WORLD

NIV: “4:2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

• Paul tells the Colossians to continue in what they have been doing, to be “steadfastly in prayer” and be “watchful and thankful in it”.

• It is not just the importance of prayer that Paul is stressing but HOW it is offered.

• He stresses persistence, persevering spirit, and being devoted and vigilant in it.

We are to guard it and treasure it because we need it.

• Philip Yancey: “Prayer is a declaration of our dependence upon God.”

• It is the awareness that we need Him, which is not always there.

• We are not always keenly aware of our need for God. We pray when we are desperate or in danger.

• But the truth is we are dependent on God all the time, in everything and for everything.

Paul’s exhortation to pray is a theme he repeats in all his letters to the churches.

• Prayer ultimately is based on relationship, not transaction.

• We do not come to God just to get something; we come because we are His children and He is our Father.

• It is relational and communal, rather than transactional. We need Him more than anything we might get from Him.

Philip Yancey: “Prayer means keeping company with God who is already present.”

• He is always there; we are the ones who are absent. Prayer is making time to connect with the caring God who is always present.

• Peter wrote, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.” (1 Pet 3:12, quoting Ps 34:15)

• God is always present in our lives watching over us and hearing us, all the time.

We are the ones who need to make time, create space, and set aside all our distractions to be WITH Him.

• Be quiet and be still, so that we can tune into God’s presence and speak with Him.

• Hence the exhortation here – “Devote yourselves to prayer.”

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While you are at it, Paul says,

• 4:3-4 3At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison — 4that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Paul wasn’t too concerned about his imprisonment, whether he would be freed or be in chains, but the Gospel cannot be bound.

• He is praying for more opportunities to share Christ, whatever the circumstances.

• He wrote in Phil 1:12 “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the Gospel.”

• Preaching got him into prison but he is praying for more opportunities to do it.

And he said, pray that “I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”

• Imagine this coming from Paul, who has been so seasoned at preaching the Gospel and yet still asking for prayers to “make it clear”!

• If he needed this prayer, then all the more do we.

Charles Spurgeon was best known for this. He was determined to explain the Gospel in words and with such clarity that ordinary people understand.

In his day, ministers were notorious for speaking with lofty rhetoric inaccessible to the laypeople. He famously told his students, “The Lord Jesus did not say ‘Feed my giraffes,’ but ‘Feed my sheep.’ We must not put the food so high up by our fine language but use great plainness of speech.”

Spurgeon laboured to make the truths of the Bible understandable to the common man. He knew that if he did not speak with plain language people would be ignorant of the Scriptural truths vital for spiritual growth.

“[The preacher] must preach Christ so plainly that his hearers can not only understand him but that they cannot misunderstand him even if they try to do so.” (MTP 56:489)