“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At 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—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”
- Colossians 4:2-4
Here, Paul begins to close his letter to the church in Colossae. He wraps up one last way households can honor God and then shifts it to the church as a whole. The ringing point of chapter 4 gets very clear, 1) be steadfast in prayer and 2) graciously share the gospel!
Be Steadfast in Prayer:
Paul encourages them in verse 2, to be steadfast in prayer and be watchful in their thanksgiving. Life is an endless conversation between us and God, well… At least God is always listening, whether we are talking or not, whether we decide to pray for others or not. Paul is encouraging them to be steadfast in their prayers for other people. He even gives an example at the close of this letter with a Colossian believer who is currently with Paul, Epaphras (v. 12).
Epaphras is one who was wrestling in prayer for his church while he has been away from them. Paul specifically says that he is “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers.” He is a man who has been steadfast in his prayers for others. Which to me is simply astonishing!
Developing an active and flourishing prayer life is continually difficult. Even as a pastor who has a long list of things I could be praying for, I simply struggle. I find that my day-to-day work is too fast to slow down and focus on prayer. Even when starting or ending a meeting, to turn into prayer simply slips my mind. I’m not trying to justify my failure to be steadfast in prayer, but merely share my struggle with it. Yet, there is something beautiful and life-giving about a life that is saturated in prayer and bent trust in God.
What if we just chose one thing to “struggle on behalf” of in prayer?
Paul even gave them a request. It’s a request that almost feels a bit bizarre as well given his situation. Though Paul is in prison, his request is not about freedom or justice. His request does not mention vengeance or protection. Paul’s request is for opportunities to share the gospel and to share it clearly and graciously!
I’m not sure when the last time I prayed for an opportunity to share the gospel for myself, let alone for someone else to share it! Does the gospel and God’s mission on earth get integrated into our prayers? Do we make it a priority? Often, whatever we do prayer about is something that is a priority to us. What if we wrestled on behalf of others and for the spread of the gospel in our prayers? What if we decided to become steadfast in prayer and thanksgiving for the good that God does in our life?
Graciously Share the Gospel:
For starts in this key theme, Paul himself is requesting prayer for opportunities to share the gospel and to do so clearly. In situations like Paul’s, it would be all too easy to harshly share the Gospel. After all, he is in prison, shuffled around frequently, and would be easy to be cruel to the guards and authorities who are cruel to him. It would be easy to not share the gospel at all. Paul further wants the church to be gracious:
“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
- Colossians 4:5-6
The Roman world is not that far different from our own, people were about business and the hustle. Anything else, in particular opposing viewpoints, would not necessarily be welcome. Especially the viewpoints that outright opposed parts of Roman culture. Yet, Paul does not tell them to stick to their guns, rather he instructs them to be wise, gracious, be like salt as they share the gospel.
Is this a watering down of the truth, to make it more swallowable and acceptable? NO! If anything, to share the gospel graciously is in fact to share the gospel most truthfully! To share it harshly and without love or wisdom would be to actually share the gospel falsely. For the gospel is grace, it is kindness, it is love. Our actions and demeanor need to reflect the message we are attempting to share.
That is how the church is to be steadfast in the gospel, there is a consistency in their speech and action in how it is communicated that reflect Christ. Paul then goes on to give thanks and greetings to many people who have joined him in the kingdom work of prayer and evangelism. People who have been steadfast in prayer and gracious in their sharing of the gospel.
Similarly, we would want to grow in our prayer life and sharing of the gospel, but to do so, it helps to find people who are active and flourishing in it. What do they do that helps them? How did they get to this point of flourishing? What were the things they had to overcome to get to this point?
Final Blessing:
As I close the last devotional of 2022, it amazes me that I have posted on this site for 3 years! I want to give thanks to God for leading me to create this site and helping me study His word and share it with others. I can only pray and hope that God uses it and more and leads the way to steadfastness in all of us in sharing the Good News with others. It’s far too good to remain inside us, it needs to be spoken, it needs hands and feet. Jesus gave it to us to share it with others, may 2023 be a year of praying for opportunities to share the gospel and taking every open door we encounter.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat of your journey!
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