Sunday Sermon Colossians 4:2-6

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

You might be thinking why did he bring up this text in the intro today?

And you guessed it! It is because we will be learning about the speech of the new man today.

And one way our speech changes is that if we are born again, if we are sincerely seeking the Lord, then a natural by-product of this will be that we will begin to pray.

See prayer doesn’t just change things, it changes you.

Show me a Christian that does not spend time in prayer, and I will show you someone who lives not only in defeat, but is not mature in the Lord.

“When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.” ~RA Torrey~

Read Colossians 4:2-6

Colossians 4:2–6 (NKJV)

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Prayer

Review

We’ve seen Paul progress from correct doctrine to correct living.

He also confronted the heresies that were infiltrating the church.

He started out by teaching us who God is and what He has done for us.

Then he moved from belief to behavior church.

He taught us to put off the old man and our sinful deeds to putting on the new man in Christ Jesus.

He discussed virtues like compassion, kindness, patience, forgiveness and humility.

We’ve seen how these virtues affect our marriages, parenting, and our relationships at work.

But guess what church, Paul is not over with yet, he has a few more things to encourage the Colossians and us in before he finishes his letter.

Colossians 4:2 NKJV

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

Paul shifts gears and is closing out this letter with the most important piece of a Christians life, which is prayer.

If we are truly walking as Jesus walked, then not only will we have the virtues that we talked about several weeks ago with the love, but we will allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts, the Word of God to dwell in us richly, and prayer will become our our priority.

What did Paul mean when he said to continue earnestly in prayer? Being vigilant in it with thanks giving?

If we look closely at this text, we will see that there are three things that Paul is teaching the Colossians and us to do in prayer!

Paul tells us to continue in prayer earnestly church:

Colossians 4:2 NASB95

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

Devote/ Continue Earnestly- proskartereō-(pros-kar-ter-eh'-o)- v. — to persevere in some activity or cause to the point of devotion. To persist in, to endure, to spend much time in. To persevere and not faint.

The word seems to hint at your priorities, these are the things that you hold on to, the things that are the foundation of your life.

Illustration

Let’s say it’s 3am, but the phone rings at your house. The man on the line says he’s from the police, he says there’s been a terrible fire heading toward your neighborhood and you have five minutes to evacuate your house. Besides your family members, what would you stop to pick up before you head out the door?

Those would be the things that you “proskartereo” are devoted to, the things you hold on to.

Illustration

It seems that Paul might be hinting at our habits church>

How about your habits? What are the habits in your life that you find important?

What are the absolutely necessary things you must do in the morning before you leave the house?

How many of you have to brush your teeth? Take a shower? Put on clean clothes? Put on a little makeup? Eat a little breakfast?

What are the things that you must do in order to feel “ready” for the day?

When you look at how this word is used in the book of Acts, you see a pattern of what the early believers thought were important:

Acts 2:42 NKJV

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

They were devoted and steadfast church and they had their priorities in order church.

Acts 2:46–47 NKJV

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

They were not only devoted church, but the were persistent in prayer.

They did life together and prayer was a priority church.

Acts 6:4 NKJV

but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

We see here a devoted church, that continually prayed, and because of this, they persevered.

Read Luke 11:5-8

Luke 11:5–8 NKJV

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

If you take this out of context, you might not understand what this is saying church and you might not see that this is connected to persistent prayer.

Don’t lose heart, keep on praying church, keep on praying.

I totally understand what it is like to hit those seasons of life when you feel like your prayers are stopping at the ceiling.

It feels like it is worthless to even pray church at times because not matter what we do, how good we are, it just seems like our prayers are not being answered.

But guess what? They are!

God answers three ways:

Yes

Wait

Let’s look at another story on persevering prayer:

Read Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1–8 NKJV

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Ilustration

Colossians Lesson 28: Private Prayer, Public Witness (Colossians 4:2–6)

With regard to prayer for family or friends who are lost, is there a point where we should quit praying? Well, probably not until the person is dead. George Muller began to pray daily for the salvation of five individuals in November, 1844. After 18 months, the first man was converted. After five more years, the second man got saved. After six more years, the third man came to saving faith. At the time Muller mentioned this in a sermon, he had been praying daily for the salvation of the other two men for 36 years! Just before Muller died in 1897, 53 years after he had started praying, one of the last two men got saved. The fifth man was saved a few years after Muller’s death (see Roger Steer, George Muller: Delighted in God [Harold Shaw Publishers], p. 267). While I don’t come near to Muller’s faithfulness in prayer, he is an encouragement to persist.

A Christian can no more expect to live a normal, happy spiritual life without prayer than a person can expect to sit in a darkroom, without ever being touched by sunlight, and hope to be healthy.

And when we pray, we must be careful about praying sweet, little, pet phrases, or praying mechanically, or with vain repetitions.

God wants prayer, more prayer and still more prayer from the heart, and He does not care about our eloquence.

Have you ever noticed when you don’t know someone, your words are few until you get to know them?

What are you devoted to?

What habits need to go away?

Paul’s point here in verse 2, is that we devote ourselves to prayer and that it is not just some scripted jargon, but rather from our hearts church.

We should be strong in prayer, we should be persistent in prayer,

In this verse, we are commanded to “devote” ourselves to prayer. The verb “devote” is one that speaks of continual and constant dedication, steadfastness and strength in prayer (G. Abbott- Smith, p. 385).

Now the verb “devote” is present tense, meaning prayer is to be a continual and habitual practice of the Christian life and in the Christian church.

Five college students visited London one Sunday to hear Charles Spurgeon preach at The Metropolitan Tabernacle. They arrived early and were met by a kind gentleman who offered to give them a tour. At one point he asked them if they would like to see the furnace room in the basement. It was a hot July day and the students were not interested. But not wanting to appear rude, they consented. Their guide quietly opened the door and there in the basement of the Metropolitan Tabernacle there were several hundred people fervently praying for the service that was about to begin. It was then that their guide introduced himself. He was none other than Charles Spurgeon himself. And he wanted these college students to understand that prayer was the power source of his ministry. Prayer truly is the power plant of the church. The furnace room is generally not a pleasant place. But it is the source of heat in a building. And behind any healthy church is a commitment to prayer. God can and does work in a variety of ways. But generally he chooses to respond to the prayers of his people.

2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NKJV

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Too many of us pray only occasionally—when we feel like it or when there is a crisis. “Pray without ceasing” is God’s command to us (1 Thes. 5:17).

Praying church is an imperative....!!!

This does not mean that we should walk around muttering prayers under our breath.

Rather, it means we should be constantly in fellowship with God so that prayer is as normal to us as breathing.

This is not to suggest that God is reluctant to answer prayer and that we must “wear Him out” by our praying.

Quite the opposite is true: God enjoys answering our prayers.

But He sometimes delays the answer to increase our faith and devotion and to accomplish His purposes at the right time.

God’s delays are not always God’s denials.

As we continue in prayer, our own hearts are prepared for the answer God will give.

We find ourselves growing in grace even before His answer comes.

When Hutson Taylor was sailing to China to begin his missionary work, his ship was in great danger. The wind had died, and the current was carrying them toward sunken reefs which were close to islands inhabited by cannibals—so close they could see them building fires on the shore. Everything they tried was to no avail. In his journal Taylor recorded what happened next: The Captain said to me, “Well, we have done everything that can be done.” A thought occurred to me, and I replied, “No, there is one thing we have not done yet.” “What is that?” he queried. “Four of us on board are Christians. Let us each retire to his own cabin, and in agreed prayer ask the Lord to give us immediately a breeze.”

Taylor prayed briefly and then, certain that the answer was coming, went up on the deck and asked the first officer to let down the sails. “What would be the good of that?” he answered roughly. I told him we had been asking a wind from God; that it was coming immediately. Within minutes the wind did began to blow, and it carried them safely past the reefs. Taylor wrote: Thus God encouraged me ere landing on China’s shores to bring every variety of need to Him in prayer, and to expect that He would honour the name of the Lord Jesus and give the help each emergency required.

Knowing that our prayers touch the heart of our loving Father in Heaven and that He can meet any need, we should be confident that He will hear and answer when we cry out to Him.

How is your prayer life? Are you praying as God has asked?

Prayer

Father, thank you for the message through the Apostle Paul today on prayer. Lord if we were completely honest, we would confess that our prayer life needs work. We have become mechanical and have said vain repetitions that are not pleasing in your sight. Forgive us for our lack in prayer and please make us prayer warriors. Help all of us here today and online spend more time this next week in prayer, not because of performance, but because of love and need for this lost and dying world. Lord teach us how to pray! In Jesus Name we love You! Amen!!

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Benediction

Romans 15:13 NKJV

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

THE LORD BLESS YOU!

YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!

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