"Kingdom Conversations"

Bible Passage

Colossians 4:2–6 “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. 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.” (CSB)

Hook (Grab Attention)

Illustration

Proverbs 18:21 (Lexham English Septuagint)

“Death and life are in the hand of the tongue,

and those who grasp it will eat its fruit.”

this fruit can be good or bad

Our words with God and our words with others MATTER.

Book

Bible Passage:

Colossians 4:2 CSB

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.

Explanation

“Devote yourselves to prayer”

“Devote”

What does it mean to be “devoted”?

What things do we find ourselves devoted to?

Going to work?

Friends?

Marriage?

Working out?

Paul is telling us that PRAYER is something worth being devoted to!

Not only is it WORTH being devoted to, it is a command. A command for your JOY!

The importance is already understood.

Many times, Christians find themselves viewing prayer as a mere FUNCTION or just a TOOL to use and MASTER.

Prayer is MASTERED when we touch the MASTER…

Prayer is not just some set of “spells” that we use to make attempts to “combo” Jesus into submission, conforming HIM to what we want in life.

Prayer is talking with God and that encounter conforms us to His Good desires for our Joy in Him.

Sometimes it is:

Asking

Seeking

Knocking

Sometimes it is a time of sitting and just “being” with Him, because there are no words.

It SHOULD be an ongoing conversation, instead of “visits”.

He is ALWAYS with us, EVERYWHERE we go, and even when we DON’T go…He is there.

Talking with God in prayer, aligns us with REALITY.

Not just any reality or “perspective”, but the REALITY OF GOD.

We, as children of God, CANNOT SURVIVE off of “mirages” from the enemy.

Mirages will STARVE YOU TO DEATH…

We MUST come to the Bread of Life

We MUST come to the Living Water

To quench the “mirages” of the World

To SEE Jesus and our reality clearly.

We need to increase our DEVOTION to speaking with God in prayer.

The people we have conversations with, IMPACT and INFLUENCE our lives.

We need to be impacted by the KING of kings, Our Older Brother

“…stay alert in it with thanksgiving”

STAY AWAKE!

We cannot let ourselves “fall asleep” on our relationship with Jesus...

We need to STAY ALERT in our conversation with God.

Train yourself to practice His presence.

Don’t forget/ignore Him!

We SHOULD be thankful for the PRIVILEGE to speak with the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

We GET to speak to the Creator of all things...

“Prayer is not something that I do; prayer is something that I am.”

Warren Wiersbe

Colossians 4:3–4 (CSB)

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.

Explanation

Pray for God to open doors for the Gospel!

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation!

The gospel is the means by which Christ is restoring all things to Himself!

We need to pray for the GOSPEL to have opportunity in the lives of those around us!

…and the gospel will be taken and spoken to them by YOU!

Evangelism and reminders of our roots (the condition we were in when Jesus found us)

2 Corinthians 5:18 (CSB)

Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

“Door” = a swinging double door; like a saloon door

These doors are not locked shut, but they do have to be walked through

If we desire the lost to be born again, we MUST go through these doors!

If we desire the wandering heart to return, we MUST go through these doors!

Either way, if those around us are to be RECONCILED to God, we MUST go through these doors!

Keep your head UP! STAY ALERT!

TRANSITION: Not only does our conversation with God matter, but also our conversation with those OUTSIDE THE FAMILY

Colossians 4:5 (CSB)

Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.

“making the most of the time” = Time = Kairon from Kairos = season; era; period of time

Using your time efficiently

making good use of opportunity, with urgency

“Act wisely” = the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight

The way you live

The way you work

The way you speak

Colossians 4:6 (CSB)

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

“Speech” = logos

Not ONLY your words, but the OUTWARD expression of the INWARD person

Luke 6:45 “A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”

In the same way Jesus is the logos (the expression/revelation of God, so are YOUR WORDS are the REVELATION EXPRESSION of who you are.

“always be gracious”

At all times

gracious = “charis” = genuine goodwill, kindness, favor

The way you carry yourself, in all genuineness, should be FOR the benefit of all those around you, AT ALL TIMES.

“seasoned with salt”

“flavored with preservation”

Your speech should have the SAVOR of the SAVIOR

When people hear and see you, they should mistake you for Jesus.

They should hear his:

kindness

wisdom

love

compassion

prophetic word of truth in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

so that you may UNDERSTAND how best to answer each person.

“Cold words freeze people, and hot words scorch them, and bitter words make them bitter, and wrathful words make them wrathful. Kind words … soothe, and quiet, and comfort the hearer.”

Blaise Pascal (French Scientist, Polemicist and Christian Apologist)

Look

Application

So what??

Our conversations are vitally important, because they are IMPACTFUL

Our conversations with God

Our conversations with those around us

Our conversation with GOD will POUR OVER into EVERY CONVERSATION with those around us…

It will temper and season every word we speak

It will temper and season EVERY ASPECT of our lives

the expression of who we are will be changed as we behold the revelation of God in the face of Jesus.

He is Our Example

We are to apprentice Him and that requires spending time with Him.

Took

Challenge Application

Examine your heart and lives

How devoted are you to talking with Jesus?

Do you have conversations with Jesus?

How alert/awake are you with your relationship with Him?

We should be overflowing with gratefulness to be His Family…astonishment

Are you aware of the “open doors” for conversations about Jesus?

Are you walking through those doors to speak as we should?

to the lost and to brothers and sisters

What are you going to rearrange in your life to enable DEVOTING yourself to spending time with Jesus in prayer conversations?

How are you going to begin to “make most” of the time you have been given with those who are not born again? To walk through those doors of the gospel?