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.
A few years back our pastor asked a question during a sermon that really made me uncomfortable: “If God answered all of your prayers from the past week in the affirmative…how many names would be added to the Book of Life?” You can see the problem, most likely. Whether you pray a little or a lot, how often do you pray for the lost people in your life? How often do you pray for God to give you or show you an “open door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ”?
Paul was in prison while he wrote this, but instead of praying for an open cell door, he prayed for an open Gospel door. Wow! And, he asked his Christian family back in Colossae to pray for the same thing. We can and should pray for our own needs, but we must also labor in prayer over the needs of others…and make a point of praying for Gospel opportunities, too. Gospel opportunities for missionaries. Gospel opportunities for fellow Believers. Gospel opportunities for ourselves.
Have you ever been in a department store and wanted some help, but no one came to your aid? I have. I walked around and looked at various items…even picked some up to observe more closely…yet nobody responded. I think I even tried to look like a serious buyer, but to no avail. Most of the time I will just ask, but there have been times where I simply chose to leave and shop somewhere else. Now, I’m a pretty gregarious person and not afraid to engage…but I think most people are NOT that way. They would be willing to listen to what we have to say about the Gospel…but they aren’t going to just ask. We need an open door.
Most people around us have a much greater need than getting some help at the department store—they need to know about Jesus Christ and His gift of salvation. Some are yearning for us to acknowledge them and reach out to them. Others would respond to a kind deed done in Jesus’ name. Still others may require gentle persuasion to accept the offer of salvation. But none of them will respond if we do not see them as people in need of Christ and make the effort to witness to them. And in order to facilitate all of this, we need God’s help.
D.C. Egner observed that, “Paul prayed for an open door to proclaim the gospel (Col. 4:3). If we do the same, we will find genuine seekers of spiritual help all around us. Let’s show them by our words and actions that they are not invisible.” We should all do the same…for ourselves, as well as for our fellow Christians.
