- Difference Makers
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“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” – Colossians 4:2-4 (NIV)
Difference makers pray diligently. Being diligent means more than just having an active prayer life. In our diligence, Paul adds that we are also to be watchful and thankful. We are to have a mental alertness when we pray. We are also to have a thankful attitude which shows our dependence on God.
Paul instructed his readers, the Colossian church, to also pray for him. What stands out to me in his request is not so much what he asked them to pray for, as it is what he didn’t ask them to pray for.
Paul is in jail, awaiting trial. You would think he might have the Colossians pray for him to get out of jail; that his prison doors might be opened. Yet, he does not.
Instead, he asks them to pray for another kind of door to be opened. That door would be a door of opportunity to share the message of Christ in spite of his physical circumstances. That was more important to him than being a free man.
Often when we pray, we pray for our circumstances to be improved. Maybe it is time for us to take a lesson from Paul and see beyond the physical inconvenience and see the bigger picture of what God has planned. Maybe we should be praying that God would open doors for us to share the message of Christ in spite of circumstances.
As a church, it is certainly important for us to pray for circumstances that adversely affect us. However, instead of praying that those circumstances be improved before we do the work to which we are called, maybe we should be praying that God would open doors for us, in spite of our circumstances.
Your Pastor,
David Hulme
Senior Pastor