Pray, Walk, Talk

Putting it all into Practice

Read Colossians 4:2-6

*How to be effective witnesses for the Lord.

Verse 2 – Continue “earnestly” (with sincere and intense conviction) in prayer…

a. Luke 11:1-10 – The disciples are taught the model for prayer and the look of prayer.

b. Luke 18:1-8 – Jesus teaches his disciples to pray and not lose heart (woman and the judge).

Being vigilant in it (keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties, be observant, be eagle-eye, be on your toes, don’t sleep, be on guard, and be ready).

Nehemiah 4:9 – This gives a picture of how Nehemiah and the others made progress: They prayed and they were alert as they built the wall. They worked, prayed, set up boundaries, watched for the enemy… and stayed ready (alert).

Mark 14:38 – Jesus says “Watch and … pray.” The enemy is coming. Temptations are coming. Opportunities are coming. The spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak… Pray. Pray. Pray.

*We are to do both. It is not enough to pray and do nothing else. We must be watchful and alert, watching out for the temptations and looking out for opportunities. We see that God takes responsibility to do things… and that we should take responsibility to do some things as well.

*Some want to work without praying and others want to pray without doing any other work.

From Scripture, we see that God is sovereign and we also see from Scripture that God works through prayer… and that “we have not because we ask not” (James 4:2b).

Are we to pray about choosing jobs, spouses, schools, churches and the like? Yes. But, we must also be alert and active to find jobs, spouses, and schools.

Are we to pray about the salvation of others, evangelism and the growth of God’s Kingdom and God’s local church? Absolutely! But, should we just stop there? Absolutely not! Keep reading…

Verse 3 – Pray for open doors… for us to speak the Word of Life.

Pray for the doors to be open… and look… for the open doors… and walk through the open doors. Pray, look, walk and talk… Paul goes on to ask that prayer be made so that he could reveal the Gospel message the way he should… the right way.

Verse 4 - Pray for me… that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.

Keep praying, keep looking; keep walking through the open doors and be ready to give words of life. And do so… not with bitterness or bad attitudes… but with… thanksgiving… in your hearts and on your lips to God.

“Well, Paul, that is easy for you to say.” No… Paul is saying this from prison. He was in prison ministry…

(Speaking of prison ministry)

Acts 16:25-31 – Paul and Silas are in the Philippian jail… praying and singing… and everyone was listening… but the door was not opened until the prison doors were literally opened and the jailor drew his own sword to fall on it… but Paul was watching and waiting and willing to call out to the jailor…

And… the jailor as well as his whole household was saved and was baptized… What would have happened if Paul wasn’t praying, staying alert, and watching??? What what have happened if he kept his mouth shut and didn’t shout, didn’t speak up? The jailor would have destroyed himself.

Wow. What should we do and how shall we live? We want to live the same way… Amen?

Verse 5 – Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside… redeeming the time. There are “those” who are on the outside… who are not yet on the inside. They are not all in the family.

What are we to do around them? Walk wisely around them, praying, watching, being alert for open doors, and walking through those doors when they open for the goal of winning those who are watching and listening. This is living a sober life, with intention, and purpose.

Live with that purpose and intention around the outsiders. And understand… be wise about this: What? That they are watching our lives. Don’t walk (live) foolishly around them and give them a false idea of Christ and Christianity. Represent Christ well and validate the Gospel message by your life.

Be people of your word, be honest, and fair. Pay your bills and seek to be holy before God and men, being blameless in your actions. Let them see the Christ in your life. May we never be the reason someone won’t consider being a Christian…

Stumbling blocks will come. But woe to those stumbling blocks.

Redeem the time. Make the most of your time, don’t waste it, and buy up every opportunity to make the largest profit from it. Do all the good you can, to all you can, for as long as you can. Our days are short… and we must make the most of them.

Allowing distractions in our lives and allowing our lives to be distractions to other people’s lives is not being wise or making the most of time.

Pray, walk and talk as if today counts. Pray, walk and talk as if every second counts. This is a focused, intentional, and purposeful life.

And… Let your life be seasoned with God’s grace as you live around outsiders. “My whole life?”

The Bible says… Even our words… You are God’s salt, be salty.

Verse 6 – Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt… that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

The Old Testament shows sacrifices seasoned with salt which symbolized purity and the preservation of that which is good. The Greeks called salt “grace” because it added flavor to things.

Our speech should have Holy Spirit sap. Our words and tone should be savory. It should be lively, pure, holy, cheerful and without gloom. Our speech must not corrupt… it must add flavor to life… and glorify God.

Conversations should be spiritual conversations filled with light and not darkness, and filled with spiritual wisdom, adding heavenly flavor to life… preserving godly and good speech, which glorifies God and is the first impression a person usually sees… That is why it is mentioned so often, I believe.

Read the Word. Renew the Mind. Pray with vigilance. Walk in wisdom. Speak with grace.

This is how we can be effective: Pray, Walk, and Talk by the Word of God.