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Colossians 4:3
3 Withal [hama] praying [proseuchomai] also [kai] for [peri] us, [hemon] that [hina] God [theos] would open [anoigo] unto us [hemin] a door [thura] of utterance, [logos] to speak [laleo] the mystery [musterion] of Christ, [Christos] for [dia] which [hos] I am [deo] also [kai] in bonds: [deo] KJV-Interlinear
3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; NASB
One of your prayers, when you pray, and you should pray often, should include the successful teaching and the continued availability, of the Word of God. This should be included in your daily prayers.
Here, Paul asks for those who read his letters to pray for him, such that he would be able to continue in his ministry. And as with everyone in the world, so too, Paul had his daily problems and burdens, finances and needs, barriers and so forth. These things are true of us all.
But, just as you pray for the continued success of your own daily activities, for your own daily growth in Gods Word, so too, you need to pray for the continued availability of His word.
For without Gods Word being provided in some fashion, many folks, perhaps even you, would have nowhere to turn to, for your daily study.
When the world goes negative, then the teaching of the Word diminishes, and can even come to a halt. God gives us all plenty of leeway in our life so that we can be positive and demonstrate a positive attitude and desire for doctrine. But as with most folks, this attitude seems to go negative and indifferent.
God perseveres with great patience … for a time anyway. Then when enough time has passed, the hammer is dropped, and that is when the great awakening comes about in human history. Unfortunately, for too many, it comes with great suffering.
Look around you and see the signs of a lack of recovery attitude toward God. Nations pursue anti-God policies. Nations pursue exorbitant spending and debt. Even in the face of a declining economy, in the face of increasing unemployment, in the face of decreasing business, with growing numbers of foreclosures, and business failures, the general consensus in the media is that things have bottomed out and things are going to get better.
The Bible calls it the call for peace, peace, when there is no peace. The great naïve society, in other words.
But in spite of the many indicators of a low spiritual state, people are going about their daily lives as though there is no problem out there. Knowing the publicity of the problems, but after all, it is happening to someone else. Isn’t it?
So, prayer is in order if you are anywhere near positive toward God, and are able to discern the differences between a positive society and a negative one.
If and when God decides to turn His back, because people have first turned their back on Him, then the hammer will indeed fall and then there will be sorrow beyond comprehension. It has happened many times in history and this world is not immune toward its happening again.
God is the ultimate source of all things. Without God, there is no source. All of the grand ideas, all of the new ideas, all of the promised changes, aren’t really new at all, but repetitions of things that have occurred in the past, even the distant past, and failed.
Spiritually negative people simply never learn. They are incapable of learning.
With doctrine your life has a chance. Without doctrine, your life has no chance. Therefore, you have an obligation to support and also indeed pray fervently, for the support of Bible teaching around the world, and especially continuing to make it available to yourself.
Doctrine is your only hope no matter what your circumstances may be. Any indifference, any negative attitude, any excuse you might have for ignoring your obligation, will only serve to bring ruin into your own life.
Put this attitude on a global scale and that means huge trouble for everyone.
Right now, people are praying for money, for jobs, for love, for nearly everything imaginable, but the one thing that they do not pray for and the one thing that they do not support, and the one thing that is the source for all the other things that they do pray for, is Bible teaching.
With prayer, God opens up many doors, but the very first door must be Bible doctrine. Through it, anything becomes possible.
Certainly the mystery, the unknown things regarding life, are contained within the knowledge of the scriptures. But you cannot learn from instructions that are not available to you.
Each person has an obligation. Someone else cannot fulfill your obligation. You have to come face to face with your own obligations and accept them. Anything less means a stagnating growth, and even loss of its many opportunities.
