Two Brothers, One Bible
Two Brothers, One Bible
Episode 318 - Prayer...A Wonder Tool
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And welcome to another episode of Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. It's great that you are listening because we're just excited to be here, Peter. I'm excited. Are you really excited? Yeah. Do you look forward to coming here every week and recording podcasts just for our listeners?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I really do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I do too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, what's your favorite thing about it? You know, the the the insight, I I've always loved, you know, we're we're two brothers in Christ, uh, which you get from the name, and and we both love the Bible. We're both students of the Bible. Uh, but when we look at scripture, it's just amazing how this part jumps out to you, and this part jumps out to me. It's so cool, in it. You know, and I'm I'm redoing a series. I'm I'm preaching through Ephesians. And so I looked at my sermons when I preached it the last time, which was 2015. Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01So it's amazing. There's nothing wrong with those 15 2015 sermons. Right. Got a totally different perspective. Same verses. Exactly. Same content, but it's like, man, this just jumped off this time. Right. That's what I think I like about the podcast so much is the the unity and yet the the diversity about how we look at scripting. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Uh I think it's uh it's just so neat that you know you and I will occasionally talk about, okay, what did you get out of it? But but we never share what we talk about until we get here. Exactly. And and so it's really you what you see or what you hear is fresh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. In case you've wondered, uh, is there any scripting on our part? No. No. We work without a net. Uh we just kind of just say, okay, we're gonna cover these verses or hope to, and then we just jump in.
SPEAKER_00Just jump right in. Well, let me introduce ourselves. I'm Robert Twake. And I'm Peter Sears. And we are Two Brothers One Bible Podcast, and we thank you for listening. We are going to uh begin chapter four of Colossians, and we're going to do uh verses two through six in this podcast, hopefully. So, Peter, if you've got that in front of you, go right.
SPEAKER_01I'd be happy to devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful, 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 proclaim it clearly as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders, make the most of every opportunity, and let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
SPEAKER_00All right, so that is the word of the Lord, and we started with verse two because we did verse one in our last podcast. So we didn't go back and reread that. But here in verse two, starting there, uh continue steadfastly in prayer. Talk about that word steadfastly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, you could say fervent, you could say uh devoted, persevere. Um it's just being on your A game, being constantly on. Right. And and which he ties into when he talks about being watchful. Exactly. But but he's saying that, you know, in everything we do, you know, we we tend to think about prayer as these probably these more uh scripted times, you know, before bed or in the morning or before meal. Yeah. And he's just talking about everything that we experience that we see we just run through the filter of prayer. And I kind of got a taste for that. W I've d done these prayer walking things, especially when you go overseas on a mission trip. And so the the training was, especially in these areas where you're not allowed to go to certain places, and you're certainly not allowed to pull out your camera. And so things like military bases or or police stations or government buildings. And so uh the thing was you would just walk this neighborhood, this street, whatever, they they drop you off and say we're gonna pick you up, you know. And so when you see people walking on the street, you pray for them. Uh you see a a mom pushing a baby carriage, you pray for them. You know, you see people going to work, you pray for them, people eating lunch, and so you're just constantly, you don't know what their needs are, but you know they need Jesus. Exactly right. And so, and you know, and maybe they're having marital troubles, or maybe you see a couple fighting in a park, you know, and so you just pray constantly for all these things. And I think that's what Paul's talking about is this fervent, steadfast, committed focus on prayer. Right. Because prayer unlocks so much, and we just go around, you know, and we hold on to these prayers for special occasions.
SPEAKER_00And we don't we don't think of uh prayer enough as a a tool, a weapon. Right. I mean, there's there's so many different ways you can use prayer for gratitude, for thankfulness, for uh helping for for others, uh, intercessory prayer. Right. That we I I I'm talking about me guilty here. Yeah I don't use prayer enough as Paul's commanding here as a devoted, alert, and grateful prayer life. Right. I don't uh I'm guilty of that. Yeah, me I me too. And I think that once the once you read this in Colossians that continue steadfastly in prayer, continually that that sounds like you're already doing it. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Continue doing this. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, when you call prayer a tool, it makes me think I I like to do, you know, handyman stuff. And and and I I'm one of those guys where, you know, I I don't own that tool, and so I'm trying to use a screwdriver for a hammer. Oh, there you go. You know, doing that. And and so uh there's been times where I've you know went ahead and and bought the right tool for the job, and you go, man, how did I live without this thing before? Isn't that the truth? And I think if we really knew the power of prayer, we would use that tool all the time.
SPEAKER_00All the time. All the time. And and so when we when we think of prayer, uh one of the things that that comes to my mind, you and I pray before every podcast. Uh and it's just so interesting that in our prayers we're we're just wanting the the listener to hear God speak and not hear us speak. Yes. And I I think that I think more of us should use prayer for that kind of thing. Uh instead because I I'm guilty, Father, uh you know, help me get through this day and bless you know, uh it's more like a Christmas list than than uh a prayer of Thanksgiving. I I I I've caught myself just saying uh asking for things, and I realized that about halfway through, and I said, Father, uh I forgive me for that. Right. Because that that's not the proper use of steadfast prayer. Sure. Uh the proper use for it is to you know use it for all the occasions that you mentioned.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um you mentioned it one time, uh you can even pray while you're driving down the road. Please do not bow your head. That's what I think you said. Prefer you not to. Or close your eyes. But you know, i there's no there's no posture required. Yeah. Uh there's no uh getting on your knees required. There's nothing that's required. Only just continually talking to him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And talking to him about everything. You know, it it struck me, we're both married guys. Can you imagine if we only spoke to our wives when we wanted something? I I want meatloaf for supper. Yeah. When you're going to dust. Yeah. You know, what kind of relationship would that be? It would not be good. Short term. It would be short term.
SPEAKER_00That's exactly right. Very short term.
SPEAKER_01So if the only time we're going to God is when we want something. Right. You know, what kind of relationship is that? Oh, that's so true. You know, it's it's very one-sided, it's it's very one-dimensional, and uh it's it's not what God intended.
SPEAKER_00No. So uh he talks about being uh steadfast in prayer, and he talks about being watchful. And watchful, I've got the Greek word of the day. Oh, let's hear it. It is Griguruntis. Okay. Okay. I could hear that. Yeah. So it just rolls off the tongue. Yeah. Yeah, it's very exciting. Uh it carries the sense of spiritual alertness. It is the opposite of drifting, dozing, or coasting. Yes. Which I like that. Yeah. Because in in Hebrews, in our Hebrew series, we talked about drifting and how easy it is to drift. Right. Well, if you're being watchful, there's no time for uh for drifting to go on.
SPEAKER_01No. Ezekiel talks about this watchman on the tower and this sense of alertness. And so it's it's a very military kind of term. So if you're on night duty, you need to be alert, you need to be awake, you need to pay attention, you need to be on guard for these things. And I think we get so complacent in our Christianity that we are drifting along. Right. And we're losing ground, and the enemy sneaks up on us, and it's like, how in the world did I get here? It's because we're asleep at the wheel.
SPEAKER_00That's it. And when you the thing that struck me about this too is not only is he saying being watchful, but he's telling us how to be watchful with Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, he he tosses in this thankful word in some weird places. You know, it's like he finished a song and then he says, and be thankful. You know, and be thankful and everything, you know. And and I think when when we look at Paul's life, that was kind of his secret sauce. I think so. Is no matter where he found himself, you know, when he goes through that list in second uh second Corinthians, it's just amazing of what he went through that that he shared. Who knows what he didn't share. Oh, isn't that the truth? But but he says, you know, here him and Silas are in jail, and what are they doing? They're singing praises and a wonderful time, you know. They've just been beaten, beaten, they're bloody, yeah, they're they're hurting all over. They're in an uncomfortable position and they stocks and boy, they're just the whole prison, yeah, listen to them. Yeah, would you two just be quiet? We're trying to sleep around here, you know.
SPEAKER_00But they're just they're taking it all in. Yeah. They're taking it all in, yeah. And it's the it's just this posture of of being thankful for the things that that God does for us.
SPEAKER_01Even if we don't feel gratitude, we express thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that that's perfect. That that's perfect. Well, we have really diagnosed verse two. I think that's fantastic. Let's move on to verse three. At the same time, pray for also for us that God may open to us a door for the word. And here Paul does another thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00All right, so he's talking about uh being thankful and and thanksgiving, but he's also asking, hey, pray for us.
SPEAKER_01You know, I don't think we we ask that often enough. We don't. You know, I I was talking to a church member yesterday and and her son-in-law passed away. And so, you know, we talked about that for a while, and then I said, How are you? and and she said she's had some medical stuff, and and I said, Well, we'll we'll pray for you too. And she said, No, no, you really need to pray for my my daughter and her family. And it's like, you know, it's not like there's there's a shortage on prayer. I I I think we can spare an extra pair or two for you. Yeah, I think so. But she really felt like, you know, just just put your words over here instead of on me. And and I but I really think that we should covet the prayers of other people and we should solicit and say, Man, I really appreciate when you pray for me.
SPEAKER_00Right. And the thing that struck me about this also is that, you know, Paul is in prison. Uh he's not asking for comfort. Right. Uh he's not asking to be released from prison. Right. He's not asking for any easier circumstances. No. He wants open doors.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Well, which which I think is kind of ironic. I do too. Because he's in a locked prison cell. So it's like, but he again, that's not where his head is because he he wants an open door, not for me. He wants an open door for the message. And so he realized even in chains, that open door of opportunity is is there. That's what he's praying for. Right. Is that that that new person that he hasn't told, or that person he's been telling over and over, maybe now they'll hear it in a different light. And that's what he's praying for. And that is so so amazing.
SPEAKER_00That is amazing. This open door, this whole God created opportunities, like you've talked about. Um you know, and the thing that that I think that struck Paul while he's in prison, well, I got plenty of time here. Why don't I write some letters? Yeah. You know, because he's not going anywhere. Yeah. And he took advantage of that. And sometimes we don't we have advantages like that. We don't we don't take um for granted. We have opportunities that we don't take advantage of. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, the thing about Colossians chapter four is I maybe that this is just me, but I've always kind of seen Paul as a lone ranger kind of guy. He didn't need anybody, he just kind of, you know, comes into a town or a village and shoots the gospel and then rides off in the sunset. Right. But chapter four shows you how dependent he is on these other people. Because he's going to name a few people here who are his ride or die. Exactly. Even some people where he he didn't want to be around him anymore. And now they're so valuable to him. Oh, yeah. And I I think we we kind of see Paul in the wrong light. I do too. And I think having this awareness of who Paul was and and how he was able to do what he did is because he had a lot of people praying for him. He had a lot of people caring for him. That he was not a one-man show.
SPEAKER_00No, he was not. And and you know, the thing that he uh wants to declare is the mystery of Christ. He's talking about this before in earlier chapters. And I think it's amazing that this once hidden plan, I'm doing air quotes on hidden, is now for the Jews and the Gentiles. Yeah. And he's wanting to make sure that everyone within his voice can hear what this mystery of Christ is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, and I think from his first message that he preached in Antioch on, he was always trying to figure out how he could could reveal that mystery. You know, I'm thinking about when he was in in Athens and here he's got all these philosophers talking, and he was like, How can I get their attention? And he talks about the they they were concerned they might have missed a God, so it's the unknown God. Right. And so he he just picks up on that. He's always looking for that opportunity to share the message of Christ and reveal to them what's a mystery because they're not looking for it, they don't know. They have no idea, and so uh you know it's just just a beautiful sentence.
SPEAKER_00That's fine. And that leads right into verse four that says that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Here is Paul, he's a seasoned apostle and he's asking for clarity.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Isn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_01Well, no, not really. Well, I say that, Robert, because that's my prayer every Sunday. Yeah. Because I mean you think about it, we we know the the poorest form of communication in terms of of translating knowledge is the lecture, which is preaching. Exactly. And so, you know, I talk for generally about 30 minutes, and so your tongue can get tangled, you can get your words mixed up, you can use poor sentence structure, you can you can say things you didn't mean to say, you can be vague in how you say it, but people can hear it in all sorts of ways, and so the only way I can be effective is by praying this prayer is let let me do it clearly. Exactly. Get me out of the way. Right. And so I'm surrendering my mind, my mouth, you know, my everything so that the mystery of Christ can be presented correctly. Exactly. I don't want me to follow up the message.
SPEAKER_00And that's yeah, that's that's a that's a great point. Because I mean I think that's exactly what uh Paul is taking, uh talking about here. He just wants to make it plain and and simple and reveal it openly. Yes. Is what this guy wrote. So this that's that's true humility right there. Uh it really is. He recognizes that even even the greatest communicators in the world need help in this area.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Really do. Uh verse five says, walk in wisdom toward outsiders and making the best use of time. So here he is talking, he's shifting from prayer to conduct. Uh this walk uh means live your life in a way that someone else can observe. And so he's talking about walking in wisdom towards outsiders. That is a great that's a great thought right there.
SPEAKER_01Well, especially in his missionary journeys, he's always meeting these outsiders, always meeting strangers. And so you know, the the thing is, you know, I I've had this thought because you know, we live in small circles, whether we think so or not. Exactly. So, you know, what if, you know, you're at a store and and they didn't act right, and so you didn't act right, and you have a come apart and and you get a little angry and heated and say some things and and then you know it gets resolved or doesn't get resolved, you storm off. And the next time you see that person is is a a member of church, brings them as a guest to your church.
SPEAKER_00Well, talk about awkward awkward, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, this is what Paul's talking about. You need to be careful where you step because you don't know where those steps are going to lead. Exactly. And so we we need to be careful, and then when he says, you know, we need to make sure that we make the most of every opportunity, we don't see these opportunities. Again, we're kind of clueless, right? But everything that we experience is the potential opportunity to impact someone with a life-changing message of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00Right. And I think that's why he tells us that in verse 6, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. He's given us two definitions of Christian speech. Yeah. He's talking about being gracious and he's talking about being seasoned with salt.
SPEAKER_01I'm not much of a salt adder to my food. Oh, you're not? I I just something wrong with you that you need to do that. Probably. Yeah, probably. We can do that later. But yeah, I do like salty food. I, you know, and he's saying it just needs to be enjoyable. It needs to be appreciated. And so he's saying, like, when we season our speech, our actions with this grace, people notice. Right. Because it's that little something extra they haven't experienced before. And so instead of having a come apart with someone who messes up at a store, we season that whole experience with grace, they go, that's different. It is different. And they notice that. And then if you see them, if a member brings them to church, they go, I remember that.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. That and that's why being gracious is so important and being seasoned with salt because it's not dismissive, it's not reactionary like you just mentioned. It's just a great way to uh approach speech.
SPEAKER_01And then the last thing he says is so that you may know how to answer everyone. What I put there was speaking the truth. If you always go to the truth, whenever you're questioned or quizzed or asked about something, the truth is the truth.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and there's no changing it. No. Yeah, that's exactly right. Oh, that's good. Boy, we just barely got through these four verses.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But boy, we got through it. Thank you so much for listening to Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. I'm Robert Wakefield. Peter Searson. And we are going to finish, in theory, the book of Colossians in our next maybe. I don't think so. You don't think that's too lofty to know? Okay. Well, we're gonna we're going to attempt working on that on our next podcast. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.