Gospel Prayer Colossians 4

Gospel Prayer Colossians 4

Gospel Prayer

Putting it in context:
Paul’s purpose in writing the letter to Colosse was to refute heretical teachings that were influencing the Colossian Church. These people were called Judaizers. They were Christians who believed you should follow the law, be circumcised, obey the food regulations and believe in Jesus. These were people in the church leading other Christians astray.

When you read Colossians 4 you have to place this in it’s proper context otherwise you will miss the power and purpose. Rather than Paul pointing to the problem, the judiazers and pointing out what was wrong with their teaching, point for point, he points to the person of Christ and stresses how this gospel transforms us in Col. 1-2. He then talks about the difference in living in the spirit vs. living in the flesh. Then in 3-4 Paul gives the practical injunctions of living this gospel out in our life.

Colossians 4:1-5
Let’s jump to chapter 4 and talk about prayer. Before Paul talks about prayer, he starts by reminding us that God is our Master. This puts in perspective what we are about to hear. God is over us not under and this master treats us as justly, because He is a just and holy God. Paul just finished discussing how wives, husbands servants, children are to practically carry out the gospel. then he has some closing warnings here in chapter 4.

Paul says, “1 continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in bonds: 4 That I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. 5Walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time.” KJV

What’s not said?
Let’s stop there and hit on what Paul isn’t saying. He’s not saying pray that I get out of this place. He’s not saying, pray for another earth quake. He’s not saying, our words and prayers will change our circumstances. He wasn’t asking the church in Colosse to pray for his immediate release from jail. He’s not saying you have to keep the law to have your prayers answered. The Judaizes were saying you had to keep the law and believe in Jesus. He’s not saying, “don’t give up praying for the things you want to pray for… He’s not saying keep praying until you have the things you’re praying for. He’s not saying pray for your spouse to shape up or ship out. He’s not saying to pray for God to grant your plan be answered and be persistent until it is.

What is he saying?
He’s saying keep the main thing the main thing. It’s all about the gospel here.  Don’t stop praying about living out the gospel he’s been unpacking in the first 3 chapter. Don’t stop seeing the gospel in everything. Pray that Paul and others who are in prison, because of the gospel, will be spread so people will be set free from the bondage of sin.

Praying the gospel:
Pau is telling us what to pray for. He’s saying make the gospel the filter by which we are seeing and praying. Pray that the gospel will be made manifest in our life. May it be spoken from our lips and heard by ears. The gospel changes and transforms us. Our prayers go from “give me, give me” to change me and change others’ lives to change my life so that the gospel might be made manifest through me so people will see and hear a gospel being lived out in such a way that their life can’t help but cry out for the gospel too.

When you know the gospel you will pray for it to spread. You will see it in everything and share it with anything to anyone. Our prayers go from “God fix them” to “God keep my eyes fixed on you.” When we take our eyes off of Jesus, off of the cross away from the gospel, we start to justify our inaction with the gospel. We start to blame others for our circumstances, we blame our spouse our co-workers for the way we feel. We will justify our anger, our frustration. We will blame those who need to know the gospel rather than pray we might be the hinge God opens the door of the gospel to them with.

A Modern  Judaizers
Who are Judiazers today? Like the Judaizers who were leading those in the first century church astray, there are those in the church today teaching something other than the gospel or they are teaching the gospel plus something else. They are ready to give you a cheer when you are struggling in your prayer time, in your Bible reading time. They say, “it’s just a season…” “you’re busy it’s ok”, “just keep praying those prayers”, don’t give up until they are answered” It’s just a matter of time. What sounds like encouraging words aren’t. Not praying and not being in the word isn’t an issue of circumstances or season. It’s a condition of the heart.

This heart condition needs remedied. Without being connected via the Spirit with the Word and Prayer you will struggle. As Christians we seem to think anything is ok as long as we add the word “season” at the end of a sin or struggle. Temporary sounds better than reality. Such comments really come out of a misunderstanding of prayer. They come from lack of understanding of justification. In some cases they are just trying to justify their own spiritual dilemma. It comes from biblical illiteracy that has simply become a norm in the western church because of unhealthy heuristics and hermeneutics that are not Christ centered, but anthropocentric. 

The Judiazers, in the early church, said that to receive blessing you had to uphold God’s commands then you would know redemption. No, Paul would say. We are redeemed then we respond in obedience out of love to God’s commands. The law was fulfilled through Christ. We don’t uphold commands in order to get blessing. We are blessed with redemption and so out of our love and thanksgiving, we respond in obedience. Paul has been saying when we see the gospel and pray for it to be made clear to others as well as myself we will see that we are already in blessing. For paul that blessing has completely changed him. He says in Colossians 3 “the live he now lives he lives in Christ. He never has to find his life in anything but the gospel.

The best time:

Before you start pointing fingers or become crushed let me remind you of the Apostle Peter. This guy knew more about this stuff than any of us reading this article. Yet he had a proclivity to drift to the side of the Judiezers. God had to deal with this issue and Peter in Act 15. Paul has to deal with Peter again in Galatians 2 for his actions are clearly a sin. His actions were a practical denial of the gospel. It can happen to the best of us, but it doesn’t mean it should keep happening. So let’s pick ourselves up and do something practical about this problem.  

First don’t be a Judaizer and don’t get spiritually cozy with them. It’s just a waste of your time. Second, remember the best use of our time is being that hinge that opens the large door of the gospel up to those without it. Sharing the gospel with our words and deeds is at the heart of this text. Three, Recognize the moment wont crush when eternal blessing is already known. Rather than you counting the minutes until a blessing, the gospel keeps you in time. Paul didn’t tell the church to pray for his escape, for his circumstances to change. He didn’t think this season will end and it will be replaced with blessing. He embraced the blessing of the gospel and wanted everyone to experience it like him. So he said pray that those around him in prison, in the church, in the city, throughout the world will hear the gospel so clearly that the blessing of Jesus Christ will over ride your physical bondage, your fear, and set you free.