Focus: Pray First. Then Share

Colossians 4:2-6
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us,
that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—
that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
ESV

Sharing the gospel isn’t something that comes easily to most people. It’s something that we don’t think about most of the time, and when we do think about it, we worry about how we’re going to do it. We worry about how we’re supposed to start conversations, if people will think we’re weird, and if we’ll be able to answer the questions that might get thrown at us. This is probably the biggest problem we face . . . we overthink it! 

As Paul was wrapping up his letter to the Colossians, he gave some great advice on how to approach people and be a strong witness for the gospel. First, in verses 2 through 4 he gave some advice that could easily go unnoticed. "Coninue in prayer...with thanksgiving". Prayer and thankfulness should be the cornerstone of all our endeavors, whether sharing the gospel, or interacting with family. But Paul's does indeed exhort us to share Jesus with the world. So, he then instructs us to specifically pray for open doors to share the gospel. How often do we sit down and pray for ourselves and our friends to have open doors to share the good news of Christ? Third, he told us to be wise and full of grace in the way we treat non-believers. Won’t people be a lot more likely to listen to what we have to say if we have a history of treating them well? 

This isn’t exactly rocket science. Pray for opportunities and treat those around you as Christ would. If you do these two things, you’ll have more opportunities to share the gospel than you can imagine. All you’ll have to do is open your mouth and talk about what Christ has done in your life. 

• • Are you willing to pray that you’ll have opportunities to share with your friends how Christ has impacted your life?  

  • What are some of the factors that lead you to not sharing your faith?