"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."
– Colossians 4:3
Exposition:
Apostle Paul is a man of prayer, by this I mean he believes in prayer. In
private, he prays unceasingly for himself, other Christians, Jews, and
Gentiles. In public, he prays along with the other saints in a formal and
informal context. Furthermore, he would not only pray solely by himself, but he
would ask other saints to pray for him. He exhorts everyone to live a life of
prayerfulness. Here, in this verse, we see Apostle Paul requesting prayers from
the church at Colossae for his preaching ministry.
Now, if Apostle Paul seeks prayer for himself and his team members, would we
not seek the prayers of others for us? Paul is arguably the godliest person,
yet he seeks prayer from ordinary church members. It does not matter how
immature we may be, if we are Christians, our prayer is before the throne of
God. We mustn't hesitate to pray even for such godly people, they need our
prayers like the rest of us, and our prayers are effective as well, if not Paul
wouldn't have asked for their prayers.
Sure, prayers must be according to God's will. We can't expect God to help
us do the wrong things or for our sinful selfish interest. Even here, Paul is
seeking a release from his imprisonment, not for the comfort of free life, but
to continue the preaching ministry, and he wouldn't mind another imprisonment
for preaching the gospel. Colossians could at least pray for the release of
Apostle Paul, even if they aren't able to proclaim the gospel effectively like
Paul does, or not bold enough to endure suffering as Paul does on account of
the gospel.
Personal Reflection:
- Do I (as a minister of the gospel) have a list of
prayer supporters who know my prayer points from time to time?
- Do I (as an ordinary Christian) have the habit of
saying, "May I pray for you" or "Is there anything I can
pray for you" or "Shall we pray together”?
Personal Commitment:
- To seek others’ prayers and also the prayer points from
others from time to time.
Prayer:
Lord, humble my heart to fall before your throne of
grace, Amen!