Watchful Prayer

Mastering the Art of Communication: Grace and Truth in Every Word

Bible Passage: Colossians 4:2–6

Summary: In Colossians 4:2–6, the Apostle Paul encourages believers to be devoted to prayer and to conduct themselves wisely towards outsiders, ensuring that their speech is always full of grace, seasoned with salt.

Application: This passage can guide us in our daily interactions, emphasizing the importance of being intentional with words and actions, especially when engaging with those outside the faith. It reminds believers that our communication can either attract others to Christ or push them away.

Teaching: This passage teaches that effective communication starts with a commitment to prayer, leading to wise conduct and gracious speech. Christians are called to reflect Christ in their relationships by demonstrating love, respect, and wisdom.

How this passage could point to Christ: In the context of the Bible, this passage points to Christ as the ultimate example of grace and truth. He modelled perfect communication, teaching believers that their interactions should mirror His character of love and integrity.

Big Idea: Being devoted to prayer empowers us to communicate gospel truth with grace and wisdom, drawing others towards Christ through our words and actions.

1. Persist in Prayer

Colossians 4:2 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

Prayer is a vital expression of communion with God. How can we, as children of God, say we have a relationship with God if we barely speak to Him? Jeremiah 29:12–13 “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

How different would our lives look if we constantly prayed to God?

Christians often forget that prayer is a vital expression of our dependence upon God. One of the ordinary means by which He sustains our faith. John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

A life transformed by the living God, who has brought us from darkness into His marvelous light and revealed our desperate need for Him, should stir in us a desire to draw near to Him in prayer. Prayer reminds us of our dependence on God. A growing and living faith will increasingly express itself in prayer. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it never will be; we will struggle with prayer, but it must be genuine.

As Paul David Tripp says, we are ‘grace amnesiacs’ because we are so quick to forget our dependence on the very grace that saved us, and so prone to go our own way. Psalm 103:2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,”

Constant communication with God prepares our hearts and minds to reflect Christ in our every interaction.

(Continue, steadfastly) We must be devoted to prayer, constantly seeking His will, and asking for His guidance. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing,”

(Being watchful in it) We must be alert, spiritually awake, and ready because the devil is always on the prowl, seeking to exploit our spiritual dullness and distract us from God. Watchfulness is evaluating our spiritual dullness or idleness, and reminding ourselves of our condition without God. Are we just praying to check off a box? Ephesians 6:18 “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”

(With Thanksgiving) Giving thanks to the LORD in every circumstance, because God, in all of His wisdom, uses all things to grow our faith, shape our obedience, and accomplish His will in us, our sanctification. Our sanctification is only one aspect of God's will, but an important one nonetheless. Romans 8:28–29 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification:”

What does our prayer life reveal about what we truly believe about God? Every Christian is a theologian, because every Christian has beliefs about God that shape how they live and pray. If our theology is shallow, our prayer life will be shallow. If our theology is biblical, our prayer life will increasingly reflect dependence, reverence, and trust. The Christian life is not a sprint but a marathon; sanctification is progressive, not instant. Day by day, through grace, God conforms us more and more to the image of Christ.

2. Pray for Proclamation

Colossians 4:3–4 “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— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”

Let us evaluate our lives right now… Are we praying for God to “open a door for us” to share the good news of Jesus Christ? In my life, if I’m being honest, I'm convicted because I do not pray this regularly.

I get scared sometimes because “I won’t know what to say” or “I don’t know what to say right now.” I am reminded, is it not God who gives us the Word to share, whether it is from our study of the Word of God or given by the Holy Spirit in that moment?

Our prayer life can easily become so much about our needs that we forget our whole mission is to go and proclaim the Gospel to the lost. Here we see that Paul is praying for God to open the doors for us to do what He has commanded us to do.

Paul is in prison for sharing the “mystery of Christ,” and he is still praying for more opportunities. I have to remember I am not here to please man, but I am here to please God. Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” It is easy to get caught up in the well, they won’t like me, or I do not want to hurt their feelings, BUT it is the truth… AND The truth hurts, no one likes someone telling them that they are not good, that apart from Jesus they have no goodness in them (Romans 3:10–12 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”” ) Or that no matter how much good they do, they will not see the kingdom of heaven.

We will see later in these verses that our communication with the lost and believers matters. When we pray for open doors to share the work of Christ with others, our mindset becomes vertical, set on things of heaven, and is subconsciously preparing us for an encounter where Jesus is proclaimed to the lost.

It no longer becomes ordinary conversations with people but is transformed into divine appointments given to us by God, where we can be a vessel of His eternal truth and redemptive work!

Let us pray for opportunities to evangelize! Let us prepare ourselves for such encounters as well!

3. Walk in Wisdom

Colossians 4:5 “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.”

Another verse comes to mind when I read this, it is from the Apostle Paul as well. It comes from Ephesians 5:15–16 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

Paul encourages and reminds us that we must walk with wisdom, and we must practice our ability to discern good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”) We must strive to live our lives as sacrifices to God and to live a life that is pleasing to Him. Not because it earns favor but because He has placed a new heart in us that delights in pleasing Him and being obedient to Him.

“the days are evil...” What does that mean?? It means that IN this time, being the time AFTER the fall of man in Genesis 3, where sin entered the world, and we live in a world that is hostile to God, distorts truth, distracts the soul, and resists righteousness.

Paul’s message is to have a sense of urgency to spread the Gospel because we are running out of time! We are finite, and our opportunities are limited.

Walking in Wisdom means that we allow God to strengthen our faith by forming habitual obedience and consistency in us, which is shaped by God’s truth! We must live thoughtfully, intentionally, and obediently, making the most of every opportunity for holiness and witness to unbelievers.

Like what we were saying last week, we MUST live what we preach to those around us. PEOPLE CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH US. We profess and proclaim Christ through our lips, but our actions say otherwise. Let this not be so.

We must have a testimony that aligns with our verbal witness. That we live lives of integrity, being thoughtful of every relationship, and demonstrate the reality and relevance of the Gospel in a manner that is compelling to those who hear and provokes curiosity. Philippians 1:27 “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,”

4. Speak with Seasoning

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Paul is laying it out there. Telling the Colossians to let our speech be gracious in their speech. It reminds me of the words of Jesus in Matthew 15:17–20 “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”” and the text in James 3:1–11 “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?”

I think it is obvious that our tongue is the hardest thing to tame. Paul is telling us in this text that if we are not careful, a single moment where we say something that does not uplift and give grace to those around us who hear or preserve the virtue of Christ, can severely hinder our ability to witness to someone.

Our compassion and wisdom are rooted in Christ. Do not let such a small member of your whole body defile the rest of it.

I want to leave you with a last scripture that encompasses these four verses. 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Love… Love for God and Love for people. Let us love unconditionally and live lives that show that love in every moment.