A Prayer for Open Doors
“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. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:2-6
Paul’s words in Colossians 4 are an important reminder about the way God can use our everyday conversations to bless people’s lives and bring them closer to Jesus. Paul not only prays that he (an Apostle) would have an opportunity to tell people about Christ, he also calls the individual Christians he’s writing to to make the most of every opportunity they have to share the Gospel. The Kingdom mission requires full participation from everyone in the body of Christ — not just the official leaders who have the right titles or preach from a pulpit.
Although some disciples of Jesus have a special calling from God to serve in ministry, shepherd a congregation, or serve as missionaries, every disciple of Jesus is called to be a disciple maker in their own context. After all, the Christians Paul was writing to interacted with all kinds of people that Paul will never meet or have the opportunity to preach to. Like the Samaritan woman at the well who led her village to faith because of her testimony, these Christians could have an immense Kingdom impact if they chose to make the most of every opportunity God gave them to tell their stories and share the good news about Jesus.
And the same thing is true for us today. With that in mind, I’d like to encourage you to do three specific things Paul mentions in this passage:
1. Pray that God would open a door for the Gospel message in our community.
2. Pray that God would bless the work of those who are called into specific ministry roles (elders, missionaries, ministry leaders, ministers, etc.).
3. Commit to making the most of every opportunity you have to tell people about Christ. While you are never in control of how people respond to the Gospel message, you are always in control of whether or not you share it.
Blessings,
Bryan Fojtasek
