“meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains.”

“meanwhile praying also for us”

The word “meanwhile” indicates that Paul gave the Colossians an opportunity to pray for him. Paul often requested prayer from others (Rom. 15:30; Eph. 6:19; 1 Thes. 5:25; Heb. 13:18; 1 Thes. 3:1). Do you pray for your pastor? Pray that he would have the courage to preach with freedom. Great Christians recognize their need for prayer.

Paul carried the missionary ball but needed guards and tackles out front praying for him. No running back makes it on his own. Neither does any minister or pastor make it without prayer.

Principle:

Prayer warriors are necessary for the work of God to advance.

Application:

When we ask people to pray for us, they usually nod their heads and affirm they will. But they immediately go out and forget about it. This neglect is an area of dishonesty among evangelicals. People generally do not pray for us unless they are a relative, good friends, or prayer warriors. 

Any believer walking in fellowship with the Lord can offer effective prayer. Some people think they must ask a professional Christian worker to pray for them. They believe these prayers are more effective since Christian professionals are closer to God. However, God does not hear the prayers of professional Christian workers any more than anyone else. We cannot depend on particular types of leaders to pray for us as a crutch. Our lives do not rely solely on the prayers of Christian workers. If they did, we would all be in trouble! It is a distortion of prayer to believe things will improve only if special people pray for them.