September 9, 2022 - Colossians‬ ‭4:3-4

“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. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Colossians 4:3-4 NIV

Lord, we want to pray like Paul did that you would open the doors to opportunities for us to be able to share your message with people. But we don’t want to just wait around for an opportunity to come knocking on our door to share your Good News. We want to be seeking out opportunities. Open our eyes and give us a mindset that sees the opportunities. Teach us how to create them. We want to naturally direct conversations towards you and your goodness. When we meet someone who is newly in love with someone or newly engaged, they naturally want to talk about that person and share their good news with those around them. Lord, help us fall more in love with you to the point that we can’t help but want to tell the world about the Good News we have in you. Let it bubble out of us like something that can’t be contained.

I think that it is such an amazing testimony that Paul, even while chained in prison for preaching your Good News, is praying for more opportunities to do just that. Lord, we so often shy away from sharing you because we don’t want to be labeled weird or fanatical. We fear what others will think or say. We don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable or even be uncomfortable ourselves. None of that mattered to Paul. He knew that proclaiming you could get him killed. Yet that didn’t stop him. He knew his message was too important for any of that to matter. Lord, forgive us for making excuses and not pressing into searching out opportunities. Make us more like Paul and increase our passion for sharing your Good News. Teach us how to follow your leading and proclaim you freely and clearly regardless of the consequences.

In Jesus name, amen.