Pray for the Door to be Opened
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 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. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Colossians 4:2-4
This short section has two important functions within the letter as a whole. First, the life of the new humanity ‘in the Lord’ is not something only to be enjoyed for its own sake. The Colossian church has new responsibilities as well as privileges. Secondly, and in consequence, Paul is drawing the letter toward its close. Having begun with thanksgiving for God’s world-wide work through the gospel (1:3-8), his thoughts turn again to that work and his part in it. But he doesn’t turn away from the Colossians. He sees them as partners, setting before them the life appropriate to them as a new community, both in Christ and in Colosse (1:2).
These instructions focus on fundamentals: ‘Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful’ (4:2). ‘Watchful’ can refer to staying awake and staying alert (Matthew 26:41) but is just as likely here to refer to the church’s ‘watching’ for Christ’s return. The connection here with thanksgiving might point to the threefold cord of prayer, ‘watching’ for answers and then thanksgiving (probably when the answers come). As children of the day (1 Thessalonians 5:4-11) Christians are to keep awake, looking out on the sleeping world which, as the objects of God’s love, is also to be the object of His peoples’ ‘devoted’ (regular, steady and thorough) prayer.
Paul asks that this ‘devoted’ prayer for them include the reciprocation of his prayer for them in 1:9ff: ‘And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message’ (4:3). The ‘door’ could be the prison door that would let Paul and his message out into the world. More likely, it is the door that allows the word of God (literally: a door for the word) into the hearts, minds and lives of individuals and communities (Acts 14:27; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 2:12). God is at work through the apostolic preaching and this work must be supported and reinforced by the prayer of His people. The content of this ‘word’ is defined when Paul says ‘so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ’ (4:3). It is God’s secret plan for salvation of the world, now made known in and through Jesus Christ. This message challenges the power structures of the present world and will always be dangerous to proclaim: ‘for which I am in chains’ (4:3). Paul’s sufferings and present imprisonment were therefore part and parcel of his apostolic call (1:24).
‘Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should’ (4:4). The verb ‘proclaim it clearly’ literally means ‘reveal’ or ‘make manifest,’ and belongs closely with ‘mystery.’ Paul must do more than just explain it clearly. He must announce and so ‘reveal’ the mystery of Christ. He is under obligation to do it in such a way that it brings true knowledge and understanding to his hearers (1:24-2:5).
Paul has come full circle. Beginning with a report of his thankful prayer for the Colossians (1:3ff) and of his work for the gospel (1:24 – 2:5), he has ended with the request that they should pray as he prays and work as he works. Their prayer and life, like his, are to be expressions of the loving wisdom of God, reaching out in Christ to save the world.
Every Christian’s prayer life should have some focus on praying for the unsaved. If yours doesn’t, now’s the time to incorporate on-going requests for the salvation of those you know. Some believers have three unsaved people they regularly pray for. Whether you have one or three is up to you and God but make sure the salvation of those outside of Christ is part of your prayer life.