Pray That God May Open To Us A Door For The Word!

Death is an ugly part of life.  Lives are fragile and can be taken without notice.  How do we respond as believers to the need to share Christ with our unbelieving family members?  Do we put it off?  Thinking that we will always have another opportunity?  

Paul exhorts us in Colossians 4:2-4 to continue to pray and ask others to pray.

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.  

Before my husband was a Christian, I would ask anyone and everyone that I met that was a Christian to pray for him.  I would unabashedly ask the parents on the soccer field as soon as I found out that they were Christians, classmates, teachers, etc.  I literally asked anyone that I came in contact with.  I was desperate. 

As I prayed myself, for my husband, I would watch and wait for opportunities to share the gospel.  For the most part it seemed like he was being unaffected.  At one point he declared to me that he was not willing to change and had a dramatic outburst in which he declared sarcastically, 

" Just call me change boy!"  

God gave me many opportunities to speak the truth to my husband and after a very long time he did come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and he declared,

"He's the man!"

Now my husband IS the proverbial change boy!  We often joke about his outburst from the past.  

I want to encourage you today to continue steadfastly in prayer for your loved ones and at the same time ask people to pray for you that God may open to you a door for the word.

I am amazed as I pray that very prayer for myself and ask others to pray that for me,  just how God does it!  

My Dad is not a believer and he has stage 4 cancer.  I can feel the urgency to share the truth with him every time that I talk or interact with him.   But I am fully aware that unless God moves on his heart he will not believe.  

My Dad has recently started asking me about the Bible and interestingly enough he has been paraphrasing actual scriptures!  So when this happens I tell him that what he said is in the Bible.  

God is doing it!  He is literally opening a door for the word so that I can declare the mystery of Christ!  

  He is faithful!  

Christmas time is the prefect opportunity to declare Christ to a lost and dying world.  

Father, give us an open door for Your Word so that we may make Christ clear because that is how we ought to speak!  

Give us opportunities with our family and friends during this season and give us boldness to speak out the word of truth because it is necessary that the word of God be spoken!

Help us to stand firm in the face of reviling and ridicule like Paul and Barnabas  did as the spoke boldly, saying,

"It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you.  Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves 

unworthy of eternal life, behold, 

we are turning to the Gentiles.  

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

"'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, 

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

And when the Gentiles heard this, 

they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, 

and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.  

And the word of the Lord was spreading 

throughout the whole region.