Stewardship of Prayer

I trust you’ve been encouraged by our Stewardship of our Hope series.

1. God owns everything and you own nothing.
2. God entrusts you with everything you have.
3. You can increase or diminish what God has given. God wants you to increase it.
4. God can call you into account at any time and it might be today.

It’s been said that a godly man cannot live without prayer. A man cannot live unless he takes his breath, nor can the soul, unless it breaths forth its desire to God. As soon as the babe of grace is born, it cries; no sooner was Paul converted than ‘behold, he is praying.’ (Acts 9:11)

No sooner than Paul was converted on the road to Damascus that you find him in a house…praying. It was characteristic of his life both during seasons of plenty and in seasons of little. It is fitting for the believer in Christ to pray to the Christ of his salvation.

One Christian writer said that we were chosen in prayer – he said that “when God chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world, He did not merely choose me to be “holy and blameless”; He chose me also to be “before Him in love.”

And…

“…Prayer is not simply something I am allowed to do as a Christian; prayer is actually one of the great purposes for which God chose to save me…I was saved to pray; and whenever I come into God’s presence to behold Him, worship Him, or make request of Him, I am arriving at the pinnacle of God’s saving purposes for me.” (A Gospel Primer for Christians, p. 35.)

That was Paul’s life – and in this particular season of life for him he wrote the letter I am reading to you know while in prison. There are 4 letters he wrote from prison (1) his letter to the Ephesians (2) His letter to the Philippians (3) His letter to Philemon (4) His letter to the Colossians.

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It’s amazing how the Lord can use any circumstance to bring about a glorious outcome – and it came about through…prayer. We may never know the outcome in terms of how the Lord will use our prayer, but we can trust and believe that our Lord is with us in the valley whether in seasons of plenty or in seasons of little.

So what is Paul doing? He’s writing to a church that he did not plant. It was planted by a man named Epaphras. This man would visit Paul while in prison and fill him in Paul on how the church was doing. There were a number of heresies swirling about who Christ was, so Paul addressed them in 4 chapters.

If we were to summarize how he addressed those issues it would look something like this – Christ is sufficient in doctrine (chps 1 – 2) and Christ is sufficient for following (chps 3 – 4)

In chapter 1 Paul talks about the Colossians faith in the preeminent Christ, to which the Apostle is very thankful for.

In chapter 2 Paul then addresses the church not to ne taken captive by the philosophies of the day in which they live, but to continue on to establish themselves in the Scriptures concerning the Person of Christ.

In chapter 3 Paul now proceeds to write to them about their practical theology. To put it simply, I’m thankful to know of your faith in Christ, now I want to write to about your following him in practical matters of life and godliness – which brings us to chapter 4 with a view toward a

Stewardship of Prayer

I would invite you to turn with me to Colossians 4:2-4 that is on page ____ in the back section of the bible under the chair in front of you.

This by way of introduction, I would hope for us to unlock…

4 keys to growing in your prayer life

That is…

Devote yourself to prayer

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”

Proskartereo – refers to being “courageously persistent” “to hold fast and not let go.” Paul does not have in mind the saying of a prayer here or there willy nilly. He has in mind for all believers to be about the work Christian’s spiritual duty of tending to that beautiful garden of prayer where

My Savior awaits, and He opens the gates

To the beautiful garden of prayer.

And I go with my burden and care.

A. Because it is a key part of the Christian life

Luke 18:1 - Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”

You remember the story of the parable of the Widow and the unjust judge, perhaps? If not, let me offer a summary for you because it demonstrates how this widow oiled the key of prayer through her tears.

The point of the parable is obvious…there’s a widow who is incessantly asking for legal protection and vindication from an wicked judge who does not fear God.

And the widow was so persistent in asking for help that this judge said

Luke 18:4-5“‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”

The parable is a story from the lesser to the greater – That is to say, if an unjust judge will respond to the persistent cries of this widow…

Luke 18:7 “…will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”

And Luke wrote in the way that he did so the answer doesn’t escape eye of the ones who has ears to hear. So we need to be a people being about that great work of prayer because “the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (James 5:16)

1 Thessalonians 5:17 - pray without ceasing.

It is fitting that Paul begins with prayer, because it is the most important speech the new man can utter. Prayer is the strength of the believer’s fellowship with the Lord and the source of his power against Satan and his angels (cf. Eph. 6:18). Through prayer, believers confess their sin, offer praise to God, call on their sympathetic High Priest (Heb. 4:15–16), and intercede for each other. Prayer from a pure heart (Ps. 66:18) is to be directed to God (Matt. 6:9), consistent with the mind and will of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 6:18), in the name of Christ, and for the glory of the Father (John 14:13). ^[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1992). Colossians (pp. 179–187). Moody Press.

We pray because…

B. Because it expresses a dependance on the Lord and aligns us to His will

Colossians 1:9–12 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Are these some of the things you are praying now, or not at all. Are you…

• 1) Praying that you would understand God’s will for your life? (v. 9)

• 2) Praying that you would live and please the Lord (v. 10)

• 3) Praying that you would bear fruitfulness in every good work (v.10b)

• 4) Praying that you would grow spiritually (v. 10c)

• 5) Praying that you would learn patience and long-suffering (v. 11)

• 6) Praying that you would have gratitude to God for salvation (vv.12-14)

Prayer…

C. because it unites the body of Christ

Acts 1:14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer.

Romans 12:10–13 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

For all of the commentary on prayer in Scripture, one would think we would take it more seriously for how often prayer is mentioned, yet we seem to take it so lightly for a number of reasons, perhaps the primary one being that we are lazy and don’t want to devote ourselves to praying, let alone persevere in what is so essential to our walk with Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Milton Vincent writes that…

“God is radically committed to my life of prayer. He shed the blood of His Son so that I might be cleansed and rendered fit to stand before Him in love. He also permitted the brutal rending of His Son so that I might now have a way into the Holy Place through the torn flesh of Jesus. “Draw near” He says in Hebrews 4; “draw near” He says in Hebrews 10; “pray without ceasing,” He urges elsewhere. How can I not feel the infinite sincerity of these invitations, especially when considering the painful lengths that God endured so that I might enter His presence in prayer? Indeed, the gospel itself serves as the sweetest of invitations to pray; and preaching it to myself each day nurtures within me a mighty impulse to come “before [God] in love” and do the praying that I was elected to do.” (Milton Vincent, “A Gospel Primer,” p. 36)

II. Be alert when you pray

Be alert to the needs of the moment

In Matthew 26 we read about the importance of prayer and temptation. Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane, and He takes some disciples with him and he says to them that his…

Matthew 26:38 “Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

Hebrews 5:7 tells us that Christ offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverance.”

Who wasn’t praying…? His disciples – they were negligent as we are when it comes to prayer. So what happens next? Well…our Lord finds them out like a light…

Matthew 26:40–41 - And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Do you remember what happened after this.

Matthew 26:56 “…Then all the disciples left Him and fled.”

Right on the heels of Jesus’ warning to keep watch and pray, temptation was crouching at the door and because they were not alert – because they weren’t devoted to prayer, they were not able to stand, but fled.

Faith how often, do we stumble because we are just not devoted to praying to our God. What our Lord said to his disciples, he says to us… could we not devote a time to pray to our God.

It should convict our hearts that we devote so much our time for other things, and so little time for prayer, and we wonder why we so often stumble in so many an area of our lives. Do I dare say it’s because we are so dry in stewarding time for prayer?

How about this for a 2024 new years resolution – can each household set a side time out of their day to be devoted to prayer every day?

Thomas Watson said that “prayer sanctifies your mercies” (1 Tim. 4:5) – it “weeds our sin and waters grace.”

Be alert to what honors God

Ephesians 6:18–20 -With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Have you considered that perhaps one of the reasons for our lack of boldness in evangelizing the lost is connected to our lack of prayer. Isn’t that why Paul is asking for prayer – that he may speak boldly for the cause of Christ?

Are we in agreement? If we are, don’t you think we ought to be thankful we were called to pray in the first place and to…

III. Cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving

Now, we’ve already emphasized this first part of the verse, but we don’t want to neglect the latter part of it…

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

Thankfulness should permeate our walk with the Lord

Psalm 107 was written with a view toward prayer – yes – but also with a view toward Israel receiving their answer to prayer because God had delivered them from the hand of their enemies…and their hearts permeated with thanks, the outpouring of which was a psalm written in thanksgiving to their God.

And what does the psalmist say…?

Psalm 107:1 - Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

We can be thankful to God for answered prayer, because He is demonstrating His lovingkindness toward us. And by the way: When the Lord doesn’t answer our prayers, we can trust that there is a good reason for why he saw fit not answer whatever prayer request we sent to him.

So then, shouldn’t we be…

Colossians 3:15 -Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

B. Thankfulness for Christ work

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

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IV. Focus regularly on gospel opportunities

Understanding that we need God to open doors

Paul understood that there was no room for boasting in our own human achievements – every opportunity given to us through prayer is a stewardship of devotion to our God.

Colossians 4:3 - praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned.

Remember the Macedonian Call! God sovereignly directed where Paul was going to minister.

Acts 14:27 - When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

In other words, just as God is sovereign over the salvation of souls, he is also sovereign in directing us where to go.

For instance

Knowing that God’s plan is for us to be actively engaged in the spread of the Gospel

Colossians 4:4 -that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

Colossians 1:3–6 -³ We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; ⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶ which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;

Charles Spurgeon

Do you always remember, beloved, in coming to the mercy-seat, that you are coming to a King, and to One who gives like a King? Do you always open your mouth wide, and ask great things of the King who is so ready to bestow them upon you?

I have heard prayers that have seemed to me like dictating to God, rather than the humble, reverent petitions which should be presented by the creature to the Creator, or by the children of God to their loving Father in heaven. We are to come boldly unto the throne of grace, yet always with submission in our hearts,

Think not that God will be angry with thee for asking too much from him, and imagine not that thou wilt insult him by asking him for little things. If thou art a believer in Jesus, God is thy Father, so speak to him as thou wouldst to thine earthly father, only have far more confidence in coming to him than thou wouldst have in approaching the most affectionate earthly parent (Charles Spurgeon, “Encouraged to Pray: Classic Sermons on Prayer”