Power Of Prayer

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ.  (Colossians 4:3 NIV)

Toward the end of Paul’s letter to the believers in Colossae, he asks for their prayers as he proclaims the mystery of Christ. This petition has a few layers to it.  First, Paul asks for prayer. This may not seem to merit extra consideration, but the fact that even the apostle needed others to pray for him should encourage us. Second, Paul needs prayer for God to open the door. While many of us like to believe that we have the ability to convert someone, only God can open the door for this change to occur. The last part of his petition is related to the previous one—the reason that God must open the door to gospel proclamation is because the gospel is a mystery. This is still true today. The message of the gospel is something that we are incapable of understanding without the direct activity of the Holy Spirit. In the same way that Peter was only able to articulate the message of the gospel at Pentecost after receiving the Spirit, we still rely on God’s timing for the seed of the good news to take hold. Pray today for someone you know who needs to hear the good news.      (Words Of Hope, Grand Rapids, MI, 8/20/13)