We are close to the end of Paul's letter to the Colossians. Before he moves into his closing remarks in our study tomorrow, he reminds his readers of the importance of prayer.
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (Colossians 4:2) We should devote time to prayer every day of our lives. We all probably bring requests to God throughout the day as things come up, but it's amazing how much closer we feel to God when we set aside the same time of day every day to talk with Him.
Paul says to be "watchful and thankful" while we pray. The Lord Jesus said something similar on the night before the crucifixion when He cautioned the disciples that they needed to "watch and pray so that you do not enter into temptation". (Matthew 26:41, Mark 14:38) The disciples failed to heed Jesus' warning, falling asleep instead and losing their courage when the soldiers came to arrest Him. This is likely why the Apostle Peter, who denied knowing Jesus that night, made it a point to say, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) We are to be "prayed up" at all times so that if temptation comes we won't be caught off guard. When we pray, we should thank God for all that He has already done for us. As the lyrics of the song "Amazing Grace" go, "Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come." We are to thank God for safely bringing us through those dangers and toils and snares, and we are to thank Him for all the things He's going to bring us through in the future. We not only owe Him our thanks, but thanking Him strengthens our faith by reminding us of all the prayers He's already answered.
"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." (Colossians 4:3-4) It's tempting only to pray for ourselves and for our loved ones, but we should always include prayers for those who are proclaiming the gospel. They are doing a difficult work and they face all sorts of opposition. It's interesting to note that Paul doesn't ask the Colossians to pray that he will be set free, but he simply asks them to pray that he will be effective in preaching the gospel. This is because sharing the gospel is Paul's number one priority in life.
He urges the Colossian believers to make the gospel their number one priority in life. They are to be ready to share the gospel at all times. "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." (Colossians 4:5-6) He says, "Treat them with kindness and let your words be seasoned with the 'salt' of the wisdom of the knowledge of Christ." The Lord Jesus said that we who believe in Him are to be the "salt of the earth". (Matthew 5:13) Just as unseasoned food lacks flavor, our kindness to unbelievers is going to lack flavor without the wisdom of the gospel added to it. Unbelievers need to know why we are loving and kind to everyone (even to those who dislike us), so our job is to use every opportunity to let those around us know that we would not have the ability to be loving and kind (even to our enemies) if Christ had not transformed us.
Paul looks at every circumstance of his life as an opportunity to share the gospel. He could have said, "I'm a prisoner in a foreign country. I can't do anything for the Lord here. I just hope that when my trial date finally comes I will be set free to resume my missionary journeys." Instead he uses even his status as a prisoner to share the good news of Christ with the Roman soldiers who guard him, with the servants of Caesar's household, and with the visitors who come to find out what the gospel message is and to find out why it's so important that Paul is willing to be imprisoned or even give his life for it. What if we looked at every circumstance of our lives as an opportunity to share the gospel?
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