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2Never give up praying. And when you pray, keep alert and be thankful. 3Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ, even though I am in jail for doing this. 4Please pray that I will make the message as clear as possible.
5 When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time. 6 Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.
Reflect
Paul shows us here how to deal with two areas that many Christians struggle with, namely prayer and sharing the gospel. His advice is pithy and plain – pray diligently and speak the truth of the gospel at every opportunity. These are matters in which Satan manages to deflect and defeat us more often than we’d like to admit.
How then are we to proceed?
First in prayer, we are to “never give up.” We are to be persistent and consistent. In addition, we are to make thankfulness our starting point. Ironically, finding things to be thankful for is not that hard. The result of beginning here is that, when we remember, through thankfulness, the scope and breadth of God’s care and concern for us, we are spiritually refreshed, releasing us to continue our prayer believing that all things are possible. This leads to a virtuous cycle of thankfulness, prayer and praise, leading to more thankfulness. Prayer becomes a realistic possibility.
When with unbelievers we are to make the most of our time. We are to be alert, spiritually listening for what God is doing or wanting to do in the lives of unbelievers. Our presence in their lives has not happened by accident. God has placed us there for a purpose. It is expected that at some point we will “speak the message.” This needn’t be forced. When we are listening, expectant and prayerful, God will open up opportunities to present the good news. Speaking the truth in his timing, enabled by his power, will result in the fruit we long to see in our non-believing friends, family members and colleagues.
Let us make the changes in our daily routines and disciplines which will unlock the power of prayer in our lives. Also let’s engage in our round of daily relationships with unbelievers, actively waiting on God to empower us to speak his truth to those who need it as desperately as we do.
Respond
Father, I have so much to be thankful for. I praise you for your unfailing goodness in my life. Help me today to be alert to what you are doing around me in the people you have placed in my way. Help me to speak your truth when you provide opportunities, and trust you for the outcomes.
Rob Cornish
Rob grew up in Southern Africa, meeting SU at camps and clubs in his childhood. He worked as a Chartered Accountant, then SU. Rob and family moved to Canada in 1991 to work with SU, becoming Canadian Director until 1997 when he left to build a financial advisory practice with a bank until retiring recently. Rob and Cheryl work as volunteers in welcoming immigrants to Canada, showing them the love of Jesus, so that they may know and understand the gospel.