Powerful Praying People of the Perilous Church
Colossians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Dr. Helen Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story. "A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister. One of the girls responded. 'Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won't feel so lonely.' That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, 'If God sent that, I'm sure He also sent a doll!' And she was right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child's sincere requests, and 5 months earlier He had led a ladies' group to include both of those specific articles."
From Paul’s prison cell in Rome to Colossae would have been over 1300 miles. From the time Paul wrote this letter to when they recieved it could have taken nearly 1 year. Talk about snail mail. We can not be sure exactly of the time frame but what I do know is a powerful prayer knows no time restraints, knows no distance. Why? Cause the power of the prayer does not come from the one saying, it comes from the one it is said too.
Paul told the Christians at Colossae—and all Christians—we have a similar passion. When we are converted to Christ, we develop a new passion—a passion that makes life worth living! Christ is the passion that makes our lives unique and exciting….a passion the Apostle Paul tells us we must “never” lose. A passion to speak to Christ directly. A passion to pray.
He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.
John Bunyan
Do you start your morning in prayer? And I am not meaning “Oh Lord my back!!” I mean heart felt seeking Christ’s face in the morning. Do you seek him each morning like your breath is seeking mouth wash? Church I am talking about changing your mindset from I have to pray to a deep desire to pray!
If you look at the letters of Paul, they normally start with prayer and end with a call and request for prayer.
Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should.
A little girl was on the way home from church when she turned to her mother and said, “Mommy, the preacher’s sermon this morning confused me.”
The Mother replied, “Oh, why is that?”
The little girl said, “Well, the preacher said God is bigger than we are. Is that true?”
The Mother replied, “Yes. That’s true.”
Then the little girl said, “Well, he also said that God lives within us. Is that true?”
The Mother again replied, “Yes, that’s true too.”
“Well”, said the little girl, “If God is bigger than us….and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?”
Let’s think about that for a minute….God would show through, wouldn’t he? If God is bigger and He lives in us, then He IS going to show on the outside of us. He is bigger than us!
How do we make sure that happens?
How do we make sure that Jesus shows through us?
For this to happen, we have to be passionate about the things Jesus was passionate about. We Christians take on His qualities and think like He thinks.
What was Jesus passionate about?
Jesus Was Passionate About Prayer.
“He fell on His face and prayed.”
“He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”
“He withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”
“He continued all night in prayer to God.”
·Jesus prayed passionately and He was without sin.
·Is God showing through us in our prayer life?
·Are we passionate for prayer unto God?
Paul tells the Christians at Colossae—the ones being beguiled by false teachers—to remain faithful to Christ and His Gospel and to be devoted to prayer. Not to pray to other God’s, He was reminding them that they were to be monotheistic. That means one God.
We’re all busy and, maybe, we think we don’t have time to pray. But, Jesus was at the height of His ministry….ministering to thousands of people. Yet, He found time to pray.
No, no, that’s not right. He made time to pray!
Why would Jesus need to pray?
· I know why I need to pray, because I have lots of stuff to pray about.
· I have sins I need to confess, don’t you?
· I have problems I’m facing in my life—and I need wisdom!
Jesus had no sins to confess, and He had all wisdom.
Jesus was perfectly perfect.
He was perfect in word, thought, and deed.
Yet, Jesus had the desire to pray—He had a need to pray! And He prayed a lot…sometimes the entire night!
Prayer Is a Life Priority.
Prayer is vital for all Christians. Prayer should be a life priority!
James tells us, “You have not because you ask not.”
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Prayer Is Spiritual Warfare.
When we pray, we are doing the very thing that keeps us alive in Christ. This is spiritual warfare because we are told to devote ourselves to prayer, but also to be watchful or alert!
Why?
Because there is an adversary who roams around like a roaring lion seeking to destroy us.
We are calling on God to do something in the spiritual realm. We are waging war in the unseen realm so that we can see the blessing of God in the visible realm.
It seems that God’s actions are tied to His people’s willingness to pray. That fact is underscored in
I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.
Jerusalem,
I have appointed watchmen on your walls;
they will never be silent, day or night.
There is no rest for you,
who remind the Lord.
Do not give him rest
until he establishes and makes Jerusalem
the praise of the earth.
Prayer Is Personal Praise.
Prayer can change lives—even lives on the other side of the world. Our prayer makes a real difference.
It is not a last hope—it is a daily necessity!
Let’s look at how prayer changes you and me.
Prayer can change our perspective by bring us closer to God. “Devote yourselves to prayer…”, Paul says. The very act of coming to that point of devotion is, in itself, spiritual discipline.
Prayer also changes our perspective by making us aware of danger. What danger? Remember—the devil is like a roaring lion, seeking to devour us. Prayer makes us aware of the dangers, pitfalls, and the potholes. Paul says, “stay alert.”
Prayer changes our perspective by reminding us of our blessings in Christ. For us to be thankful in prayer, we have to think of those things we are thankful about.
Prayer can change our opportunities.
At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should.
Paul was in prison for preaching the Gospel of Christ. Now, he asks the Colossian Christians to pray that God will open up…not the prison doors…but other opportunities for him to preach the Gospel to people; even there in prison. Prayer can change our opportunities by opening closed doors for us so that we may share with others.
· Do any of us have friends whose hearts are closed?
· Do any of us have relatives whose hearts are closed.
If so, do we think to ourselves, “How in the world can I penetrate that? How can I break through?”
Sadly, the answer is, “We can’t break through. We can’t kick in the door.” We need to keep praying God will open those doors.
When those doors are open, we need to pray God will give us the mental clarity to share the Gospel clearly. Paul told the Christians at Colossae to, “Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”
The Gospel is a simple message; and we need to be mentally sharp as we share this message—clearly—with others. We need to pray to God for help in doing that. Paul did!
Pray can change our effectiveness.
Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.
Prayer changes and expands our effectiveness by giving us wisdom in dealing with unbelievers. We must be wise toward people who aren’t Christians—they’re watching us!
We must be wise about what we say and how we live around them. We need to pray that God will help us live a life that shows forth the proper conduct of true Christians.
Paul said, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders…”. Why? Because that’s what Jesus would do.
“Make the most of every opportunity.” Why? Because that’s what Jesus did.
“Let your conversation be full of Grace.” Why? Because that’s how we bring them into contact with the One who can save their souls.
Yes, God is bigger than we are and He lives in us. And, that means He must show through. When He fills us, and Christ shines through, then we can share that with others. It should be our passion.
What are you passionate about? Are you passionate enough to pray for your enemies? Are you passionate enough to pray for an hour on the second Tuesday of each month? Are you passionate enough to let a God that is so big live and shine in you? Are you willing to pray to Him?
Let me end by telling you a story about passion
There’s a story about a missionary in Africa. After converting a man to Christ, the missionary gave him a Bible and said, “Go share this with your family and friends!”
The man hugged the missionary and expressed great appreciation for the precious gift of God’s Word.
The missionary saw him a few days later and noticed, much to his dismay, the Bible looked like it was already falling apart! He also noticed a lot of the pages were missing.
So, he asked the man, “Hey! What happened? What did you do to your Bible? I thought you considered it a treasured possession?”
The man replied, “Indeed! It is a very precious possession. It is the finest gift I’ve every received. It is so precious that, when I returned to my village, I very carefully chose a page and tore it out and gave it to my Mother.”
“Then I found another page and tore it out and gave it to my Father. And I tore out another page and gave it to my wife. Finally, I gave a page of God’s Word to everybody who lives in my village.”
Do you have a passion like this man here? Can you have a passionate prayer life like Epaphras?
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills. For I testify about him that he works hard for you, for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.