Colossians 4:3-4 NLT
[3] “Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. [4] Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.”
Great apostle that he was, Paul was aware that he was a vulnerable human being. He needed the prayer support of his fellow believers as much as anyone else. He was not too proud to ask for prayer even from those whom he didn’t know personally.
What were his specific requests, the target he wanted to hit? First, opportunities, and second, clarity. Why ask for opportunities? Wasn’t it the Lord who sent him to take the message to the Gentiles? Surely, He would give Paul the opportunities to do the job! Yes, and no.
Yes, to hit the target, Paul needed the Lord to supply the opportunities that would best serve His purpose. No, it was no use shooting at everything, wasting time on people who would refuse to listen. It was the Lord who would open the way to fruitfulness.
Why did Paul need clarity to pass the message on to others? He was a human, just like everyone else, subject to the weaknesses of humanity. He could also fall prey to weariness or discouragement, or become stale in his presentation of the precious message.
Paul never forgot that he was in partnership with the Lord. Partnership involved communication. It was not his role to bash on without consulting his senior Partner and he also needed others to support him in this work.
So, Paul invited his fellow believers to share this partnership by asking the Lord to do just what He wanted to do, to give Paul the opportunities to present the message that would bear fruit and to keep Paul’s mind fresh and clear as he repeated the story of Jesus to every new audience.
Ephesians 6:19-20 NLT
[19] “And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. [20] I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.”
Paul urged all his fellow believers to share with him in his mission. He was never a lone ranger. He must never feel that he was alone in this enterprise. He had companions to support him as he travelled and preached. He had partners who prayed as he went.
(An excellent blog on “Partnership Through Prayer…
https//:reconciledworld.org)
So, Paul commends and encourages this partnership on which he leant hard for the safety and success of his mission and calling.
Philippians 1:15, 18-19 NLT
[15] “It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives….
[18] But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. [19] For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.”
So it must be in this journey of life…never alone! We have the Spirit in us as our personal Companion and Helper. We have our fellow believers alongside us to help us bear the burden of duty and responsibility. God has ordained that prayer is the way to empower us as we carry out our commission, and partnership enables us all to have a share in the rewards. Some stay at home; others go, but together we form the team that succeeds.
This pattern of partnership was the secret of the China Inland Mission, later to become the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. It’s founder, Hudson Taylor, had a prayer support team led by his mother back home, that faithfully prayed for him and his companions as they pressed deeper into inland China. Against the tide of paganism, the gospel began to take root.
Later, after years of ruthless communism, the church, founded by Taylor and his fellow missionaries, emerged alive and flourishing despite severe persecution. Today, Chinese Christians still press on, strong and vigorous against the tide of opposition and unbelief.
It’s this focused prayer, as Paul requested, recognising and shooting at the target, that enables us to participate in the growth of God’s kingdom on earth.
As an aside, perhaps the church today has ignored or lost this mandate of partnership in prayer that shaped the church of long ago, to our loss. Is this one of the reasons for a modern church, in the main, that is weak, insipid, and compromising, in the place of a family of people that stand out for truth and righteousness in a very muddied world?