Colossians 4:2-4 - The Practice of Praying

Prayer is one of the hardest spiritual disciplines. Many struggle with other spiritual disciplines as well such as reading the Bible - but with a good Bible reading plan most people can at least be fairly consistent with it. You can tangibly see the progress that you are making. There is a way to measure how much ground you have covered. And this helps keep you disciplined moving forward.

Prayer is more difficult, though. Some prayers may not be answered for weeks, months, or even years. While others are given the answer no. How can you measure your prayer life? How can you tell whether you are doing well or doing poorly in praying?

Practically, I think a prayer journal or a detailed prayer list of some sort is a great way to do this. I don’t have a Bible verse to exposit regarding this, however, I know that when I look back at my detailed prayer lists and see answered prayers time and time again - it is a tremendous faith builder and helps me stay persistent in prayer. I can look back and see my updates over time with each prayer request and see God moving - sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly - but always in His time and at the right time. I see that my prayers matter and that God hears them.

In order to see the value in prayer, however, we need not look any further than the Apostle Paul. He was a man of prayer. We see this throughout his letters. The introductions of most of his letters start with prayer and thanksgiving from the start. We also see him insert teaching regarding prayer throughout the other sections of his letters. Today’s Scripture is one of those such teachings on prayer from Paul . In these three rich verses he lays out five principles of prayer for us. This is by no means an exhaustive study or understanding of prayer. But it does give a good foundation on which to build your prayer life.

Join me as we read God’s Word:

Colossians 4:2–4 ESV

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

Prayer

Today we are going to discuss five different ways that we should be a people of prayer as believers in Christ. The first is:

I. Believers Should Be a People of Prayer…By Praying Persistently (Colossians 4)

Colossians 4:2 (ESV)

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

Paul commands his readers to be steadfast in prayer. The Greek word for steadfast means devoted to and to persist in. It can also mean engaged in which gives an image of the spiritual warfare around us. We are engaged in a battle and we must persist through the power of prayer. Prayer is the means in which we plug in to the power of God in order to fight the spiritual battles that come our way. It is this fellowship with our Creator that empowers us to keep fighting the good fight (2 Timothy 4:7).

Prayer can be difficult at times, though. Sometimes we continue praying and we don’t see anything happening. Sometimes we wonder if God is even listening. Sometimes we feel like our prayers are bouncing off the stars in the universe and not reaching the Presence of God. Sometimes we pray and things keep getting worse instead of better. Yet, God commands us to continue praying despite how we feel or what our experience is. And He promises us that He hears our prayers that are in Christ. We must persist in praying even when we don’t feel like it.

Because as we continue steadfastly in prayer, we remain in an unbroken fellowship with God. Prayer is so much bigger than getting what we ask for. Yes we can make our requests known to God and should (Philippians 4:6). But prayer is about a relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. That is why we are told to pray continually or without ceasing in 1 Thessalonians 5:17

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

pray without ceasing,

We should remain in an open dialogue with God throughout our day.

John MacArthur speaks of prayer in this way:

“Praying at all times is not necessarily limited to constant vocalizing of prayers to God. Rather, it refers to a God consciousness that relates every experience in life to Him.”

John MacArthur

Prayer isn’t just something that we do and then we are done. Prayer is a way of life. Yes, we should have dedicated prayer times throughout the day that may end with an ‘Amen.’ Yet, we should think of God and talk with God at all times. This fellowship with God leads to strengthening us. One very important reason that we should continually walk with God in prayer is that it helps us remain watchful. Which brings us to our next point.

Scripture References: 2 Timothy 4:7, Philippians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:16

II. Believers Should Be a People of Prayer…By Praying Proactively (Colossians 4:2)

Colossians 4:2 (ESV)

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

We should remain watchful, or pray proactively, because the enemy seeks to steal, kill and destroy us.

John 10:10 ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

But as we see at the end of this statement by Jesus Christ - He came that we may have life and have it abundantly. Abundant life comes from proactively and watchfully praying continually to Christ. When you are walking with Christ minute by minute and hour by hour, the enemy of your soul will have much less room to tempt you. When a certain sinful temptation comes your way, it is much easier to fight when you fight with the power of prayer and allow Christ to fight the battle for you.

It is much easier to see the darkness of sin when you are walking continually in the light of the Savior.

When we begin to see prayer as proactively fighting sin - it becomes more clear that we need to remain steadfast in prayer. We are not nearly as strong as we think we are. Paul gives us this warning in another of his letters:

1 Corinthians 10:12 ESV

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

In order to have a vibrant prayer life, one must see that he or she is constantly weak and in need of a Savior. For believers, they grasp the fact that they need a Savior for their sins. But sometimes as believers, we don’t grasp that we need a Savior for our every day lives as we well. We need a Savior every minute of our lives. We are always one moment away from falling into sin. We are always one moment away from a life-altering decision that can come with grave earthly consequences.

We must be actively fighting sin as we discussed a few weeks ago. And the best way to do this is to walk minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day with the omnipotent and all powerful God of the universe.

Theologian F.F. Bruce stated:

Men and women of persistent prayer are those who are constantly on the alert, alive to the will of God and the need of the world, and ready to give an account of themselves and their stewardship.

F.F. Bruce

In other words, people of prayer are always ready for the Lord to appear and take them home to glory because they are being persistent and watchful in their prayers.

Matthew 25:13 ESV

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

We do not know when our Savior will return for His people. As a believer who is watchful and in persistent prayer, you need not fear the hour to come. You are ready and alert and prepared for the coming our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May we be a people prepared for our Savior. Be watchful and alert my friends.

Next we see that...

Scripture References: John 10:10, 1 Corinthians 10:12, Matthew 25:13

III. Believers Should Be a People of Prayer…By Praying Perspectively (Colossians 4)

Colossians 4:2 (ESV)

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

In my Baptistic desire for alliteration (meaning all of the words sound similar), the word perspective came to my mind. As we pray we need to keep an appropriate perspective. This means the point of view in which we pray. We should pray from a heart of thanksgiving. This allows us to pray faithfully and confidently.

Praying with thankfulness shields us and protects us from discouragement. Paul is writing this letter from prison. He isn’t able to go about as he pleases. And yet he encourages the Colossians to pray like he does - with thanksgiving.

When we pray with thanksgiving, we still see the situation for what it is currently. We shouldn’t deny the difficulties that we currently face or see. There are many obstacles and challenges that continue to hinder believers. Yet, prayer with thanksgiving provides hope and joy even in the midst of difficulty. And it reminds us that God has worked in difficult situations before and He continues to do so today.

We can rejoice like the Psalmist in Psalm 28:7

Psalm 28:7 ESV

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

We have a defender and protector. We trust in the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. And we will continue to lift up praise and thankfulness to Him knowing that He is our help, protector, and defender. We have much to be thankful for my friends. I promise you that if you make thanksgiving an integral part of your prayers, your prayers will begin to become more and more powerful. Thanksgiving is a catalyst to faith. It exponentially increases our faith.

Moving to our next point we see that...

Scripture References: Psalm 28.7

IV. Believers Should Be a People of Prayer…By Praying Precisely (Colossians 4:3)

Colossians 4:3 (ESV)

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—

Precise praying means that it is informed praying. Precision is concerned with exactness and thoroughness. Prayer that is informed is usually more effective.

Paul is asking the believers in Colossae to lift up prayer on his behalf as well as for Timothy. He is asking for intercessory prayer.

Intercessory prayer is prayer that is lifted up on behalf of another. To understand this further we should start with Jesus Who is our Great Intercessor before God.

Hebrews 7:25 (ESV)

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

All of our prayers are given to God with the righteousness of Christ covering our sinful flesh. He presents our prayers as pure and blameless and worthy prayers because He is worthy.

And we are commanded and encouraged to intercede by praying for others to Christ on behalf of each other as well.

In order to pray precisely, we must have open lines of communications with believers. The church fellowship must be open and honest about prayer requests. Of course there is wisdom in knowing what details to share amongst a group and what details to share to a trusted friend or mentor - but we are to be sharing prayer requests and asking others for prayer requests. People cannot intercede for us as well if they don’t know what is going on in our lives. This is why church fellowship is so important. This is why it is of utmost importance to be inviting people into your home, going out to coffee with fellow church members and attenders, and making it a priority to develop relationships in the body of Christ. We need this intercessory prayer.

Paul has just given us a great example here by asking the believers to pray for both Timothy and him. He realizes that he is not on an island by himself. He realizes that he needs the body of Christ to lift him up in prayer and pray for him so that he might continue to minister for the Gospel.

To understand the power of intercessory prayer, we must understand the two main facets of what makes it effective.

Intercessory Prayer Relies on Both:

1. Faith

God honors faith driven prayer.

James 1:6–8 ESV

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

God honors faith driven prayer.

By taking a perspective of thanksgiving as we mentioned before, we can pray in faith because we know our God can do it all because He has done so much already! He created the heavens and the earth with His spoken Word. He holds everything together by His power. There is nothing that our God can’t do!

2. Foundation

Most importantly, prayer is to be founded on Christ and His Word.

We pray in Jesus name. We pray in the power of Christ. We can pray because we know that we are sons and daughters of the most High God through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. We are going to see in a moment as we get to our next point that Paul’s intercessory request actually was all about the spread of the Gospel. Our prayers must be firmly rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well.

We must understand that we can only pray to God because of what Christ did on the cross. He died on the cross for our sins and took on our reproach and punishment. If you don’t understand the Gospel, you can never understand or practice prayer. Because prayer is always based on the foundational understanding that we are weak, unable to do anything on our own - and that Christ is the solid rock foundation that we can build our lives upon.

Because of this, our prayers should always be according the will of God as well - 1 John 5:14

1 John 5:14 ESV

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

The foundation of our prayers should be the solid rock of Christ and His will.

Finally, we see that...

Scripture References: Hebrews 7:25, James 1:6-8, 1 John 5:14

V. Believers Should Be a People of Prayer…By Praying Providentially (Colossians 4:3-4)

Colossians 4:3–4 (ESV)

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.

Finally, we come to the last aspect of prayer that Paul exposits for us. We should pray evangelistically - that the providence of God would open the door for the Gospel to spread. And that God would give us the words that we are to say when we are to say them.

Paul starts by asking for an open door to be given. This Greek word refers to making a way. We see this same metaphor used in Acts 14:27

Acts 14:27 (ESV)

And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Paul remembered God opening doors countless times in the past for him, and he knew that God could continue to open more doors - even in the midst of a prison sentence.

Note that his focus was on the Gospel and not his freedom. He didn’t ask to be freed in order to be able to do what he wanted to do and relax. He didn’t see his life mission as over now that he had aged and had suffered countless persecutions and beatings. His focus was on continuing to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He uses two different phrases for the Gospel here:

1. The Word

2. The Mystery of Christ

The Word is more self-explanatory. John 1:1

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Christ is the Word. Spreading the Word is spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The second phrase is the mystery of Christ. This term mystery in the New Testament usually refers to a hidden truth in the Old Testament that has been illuminated for New Testament believers. Thus the mystery of Christ is the Gospel of Jesus Christ here.

I want to come back to end of verse three but let’s take a quick look at verse 4 as we move forward:

Colossians 4:4 ESV

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

Paul not only wanted to spread the Gospel - he wanted to do it well. He wanted the message of the Gospel to be clear to all who heard it. We should desire the same thing. Learn how to articulate the Gospel well. It doesn’t take much work. If this is something you need help with, let me know. I’d be glad to sit down with you and help you become more excellent in sharing the Gospel. But be sure to remember that it is Christ who draws souls to Himself. Yes, we should seek to present the Gospel as clearly and Biblically as possible. But our presentation ability is not what determines salvation - God does.

Finally Paul says that this is how he ought to speak. This word ought refers to a compulsion and obligation to preach the Gospel to unbelievers. In English, we hear the word ought and think that this is something that we should do but that if we don’t actually do it things will probably be okay. That is not the Greek understanding of this word here. This is a Biblical mandate and compulsory command to preach the Gospel. Paul felt it and obeyed. And this same command comes to us from Jesus Christ in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. We are preach the Gospel to unbelievers. I pray that you are in obedience to this as well.

Paul understood the life and death nature of the Gospel for unbelievers. He understood that those who rejected the message or did not hear the message would be imprisoned. But not in the way that he was. They would be imprisoned a place called Hell. A place of eternal torment. And he wanted to do all in his power to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to prevent this and to bring Christ glory. He wanted to see people repent or turn away from their sins and come to a saving knowledge of Christ. He wanted to see them believe in the Son of God - Jesus Christ - God made flesh - who died on the cross for their sins some 2,000 years ago and raised three days later and now desires a relationship with them.

Yet, it was this Gospel preaching that did land him in prison as we see at the end of verse 3:

Colossians 4:3 (ESV)

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—

This is speaking of Paul’s second imprisonment in Rome that we have mentioned before. It was during this imprisonment that he wrote Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. We see this second imprisonment in Rome summarized at the end of the book of Acts. Acts 28:30-31

Acts 28:30–31 ESV

He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Paul did not see his circumstance of being imprisoned as an end of his ministry. He continued ministering to others and proclaiming the kingdom of God with boldness. I love that last phrase in verse 31 - and without hindrance.

What is hindering your prayers today?

Paul kept working for the Lord and kept walking with the Lord even when times were very dark and seemed hopeless.

What seems to be holding you back from walking more closely with the Lord?

Is it a lack of focus on thankfulness? Are you quick to forget all that the Lord has done for you? Does this forgetfulness weaken your faith?

There is a reason that God had Israel erect certain monuments such as after the parting of the Jordan river and the 12 stones placed in remembrance (Joshua 4). It is because we are quick to forget the goodness and power of the Lord. We need to have visual reminders of His greatness. Try keeping a prayer journal or list. Watch Him answer prayer after prayer over time. Your faith with be strengthened.

Or...

Are your prayers hindered because of a lack of steadfastness?

Maybe you just struggle with perseverance. You are quick to give up. You ask once but if there is no answer, you just give up. God honors persistent praying.

Push through my friends. Our God is powerful and still working in our world. He hears and answers prayers today as He did in Paul’s day and even before. Keep pressing on.

Scripture References: Acts 14:27, John 1:1, Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 28:30-31, Joshua 4

Conclusion:

As we come to a close, I am reminded of the great pastor of old, Charles Spurgeon as he discussed prayer. A visitor at Spurgeon’s Tabernacle in London was being shown around the building by the pastor, Charles Spurgeon.

“Would you like to see the powerhouse of this ministry?” Spurgeon asked, as he showed the man into a lower auditorium. “It is here that we get our power, for while I am preaching upstairs, hundreds of my people are in this room praying.”

You see, Spurgeon’s success came from the power of God. He acknowledged that all of the power of his preaching came from God. And he acknowledged this by encouraging his church members to cover his messages and ministry in prayer.

May we be a church like this my friends. I pray that you all cover my sermons in prayer. I pray that you cover our church’s ministries and outreach in prayer. I pray that you also walk in constant prayer yourself. May we be a church that understands that we are weak human vessels. But may we also understand that we house the Almighty God in the Person of the Holy Spirit who indwells these fragile human bodies. Our God has all power and might to do as He pleases. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and with God’s power we can stand firm against the enemy of our souls knowing that our God reigns.

May we:

Pray persistently.

Pray proactively.

Pray perspectively.

Pray precisely.

Pray providentially.

Let us pray.

Prayer

If you would like to learn more about salvation through Jesus Christ or want to obey Jesus by obeying the first commandment of a believer in going through the waters of baptism - please let me know.