A Praying and Prepared Church

“A Praying and Prepared Church is a Powerful Church”

Colossians 4:2-6

Introduction

Reece Howell

· Christian in his small community

· There was a man who didn’t like him at all, once cursed him out

· However, Reece didn’t retaliate but prayed often for him to come to faith and be saved

· He said to God, “I will do any and everything you ask for him to be saved”

· One day this man came to Reece informing him of his financial problems – If he didn’t get money he needed his family would be homeless

· Reece went upstairs and got half the money the man needed

· As he was going downstairs, he heard God say, “I thought you said you would do anything for him to be saved”

· He went back upstairs and got all the money he needed and gave it to him

· As a result this man came to faith in Jesus – in fact many others in the community came to faith as well

· This illustrates both the power of prayer and the results of being obedient to God as he shared the Gospel by representing Jesus in his generosity

· This is what we will be looking at today – Prayer and evangelism

Main Text

Colossians 4:2-6

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 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— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

· Paul is giving his last exhortations to the church before his final greetings

Exegesis

VS 4:2-4 are exhortations for prayer

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

· Paul knows that a praying church is a powerful church

· Tells us when, how, and the attitude of prayer

When: Continue steadfastly – means to earnestly persevere in our prayers – A lifestyle of prayer

o To be in constant communication with God every day - “Pray without ceasing”

o God communicates to us primarily through the Bible and we communicate with Him through prayer

· God redeemed us and we are in a right relationship with Him through Jesus so that we may have fellowship with God

1 John 1:3

Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ

How: Being watchful means mentally and spiritually alert and vigilant

o Watchful – Some scholars see this as ready for the imminent return of Christ – doing God’s work

o Since prayer is constant communication with God it can be tiresome

o So other scholars think this is what Paul is referring to, why we must be alert in prayer

o Regardless, we must always be ready for action doing God’s work

Attitude: With a thankful heart for all God has done, is doing, and will do for us

· Thankfulness that God answers prayer

· Thankful that we can trust that if we don’t get the answer we want, God has something better for us in mind

A Praying Church is a Powerful Church

VS 3-4

3 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 - 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

· Paul asks for prayer for him and others who travel sharing the Gospel and establishing new churches

· Focus here is on evangelism

· Prayer for Paul to proclaim Gospel boldly

· They’ve already seen that Paul prays earnestly and without ceasing in:

VS 1:9

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you

· Prayer that God may open to us a door for the Word – The Gospel he calls the mystery of Christ

o “Open a door for the Word”= To be presented with opportunities to share Gospel

o “Mystery” – Paul used mystery earlier in letter to mean Christ and the Gospel message

o “In chains” = He has suffered persecution for sharing the Gospel

Make it clear, which is how I ought to speak

· It’s much easier for unbelievers to respond to Gospel message when our words are clear, simple, and understandable

· It takes the focus away from us and onto the One whom we are sharing – Jesus

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

· There is a deeper interpretation here: Paul is actually asking them to pray for God’s Words be given to him when sharing Gospel

Jesus says in Matt 10:20

20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you

· Paul knows he doesn’t have the right words according to his own intellect

A Praying Church is a Powerful Church

VS 5-6 talks about Godly living toward unbelievers

A Prepared Church is a Powerful Church

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

· “Walk” refers to our whole way of life – Like walk worthy of Christ

o Only through God’s wisdom – not own

· “Making best use of time” = Best use of our time through living Godly toward outsiders is:

o Representing Jesus in all our actions and words

o Also taking advantage of every opportunity to share

· “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt”

o As Christians, we must have love and compassion for unbelievers wanting them to be saved

o But too many Christians isolate themselves from the outside world

o Too many are judgmental toward outsiders and have a “better than” attitude

o This results in a hatred for Christians and being disgusted with Christianity

· “You may know how you ought to answer each person”

1 Peter 3:15

15 In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect

“A prepared church is a powerful church”

2 things here:

1st

· Be ready to give an answer when people ask you about your life and your faith – how it is different than others

· Like, “How can you…when this is happening”

· “Why don’t you…” or “Why do you…”

2nd

· We must also know the entire Gospel message to share it to unbelievers

· We also must know it well enough to answer any questions regarding the Gospel

So what do we need to do?

· Pray multiple times a day – Not only for ourselves but to others as well

· Let’s put away all distractions in our personal lives and what’s going on around us as best we can

· Instead let’s focus on Jesus so we can be in constant communication with God

o Requires establishing a Gospel mindset

o For me, I establish this mindset starting my day with prayer and studying Scripture

· We must live out our faith with Godly living in every aspect of our life through words and actions

· Let’s have a heart for unbelievers

· Let’s pray for ourselves and others to take every opportunity to share the Gospel

· We need to make sure we fully understand the Gospel message to adequately share with unbelievers

· Take the time to develop our own personal way of sharing the Gospel and practice it

o We are then prepared when opportunity comes up

o It can also help get rid of the fear and replace it with boldness to share Gospel

· Take time to read the Scripture references in the bulletin

Remember: A praying and prepared church is a powerful church

Prayer