Prayer, Clarity, And Courage | Episode 14

Thanks for listening to this week's episode! Today, Pastor Johnny reads from Colossians 4:2–6 and 4:12, calling us to watchful, grateful prayer, clear speech, and a missional life in ordinary places. Paul’s chains, Epaphras’ contending, and our identity as beloved sons and daughters frame a practical path to live and share the gospel with wisdom.

• praying with watchfulness and thanksgiving 
• asking God for open doors and clarity 
• embracing cost and courage for the Great Commission 
• walking in wisdom toward outsiders 
• speaking graciously with answers seasoned with salt 
• living sent at home, work, and in community 
• contending in prayer so others stand mature and assured 
• grounding mission in beloved identity and God’s goodness

Transcript

Welcome And Passage Overview;

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey, Johnny Underwood here with the Undivided Podcast. Thank you for tuning in today, and I really hope you're blessed by this episode. Well, good afternoon, Undivided Podcast listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I am so excited to engage you and God's Word. I love it when the two of us come together, uh, the two of us being God's Word and you. So today we're going to climb into it to Colossians 4. We're just going to touch on a couple of verses here and then a bonus scripture that I believe are going to give us some guidance, some directions, and be a blessing to us. And so without further ado, let's jump in here. I'm going to start here in chapter 4, verse 2. We're going to read through six, and then we'll talk about the bonus scripture here in a few

Pray With Watchfulness And Gratitude;

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minutes. So starting in verse 2, Paul says, he says, 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. Verse 5. Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. So what I want us to do, just as we've done the last several episodes, I just want to break down these scriptures, give a little insight that I see in them, and then we'll talk about this bonus scripture. So just the idea of continual, continue steadfastly in prayer. I love that that we're one, we've already broken down in a couple episodes back the word steadfast, to be steady, to persevere, to to be consistent. So he's telling us here to continue to persevere, to stay uh obedient to and to be faithful to prayer, being watchful in it with Thanksgiving. So I think that being watchful in it is to be again mindful of what we're saying, that we're just not throwing up, you know, just random words, but we're being intentional and with it that it's it's coded in Thanksgiving. Why is Thanksgiving important? Because, I mean, one, we want to come into the presence of God with gratitude. We want to engage Him with gratitude. Why gratitude? Because it's the gospel, right? We're we're we're praying on this side of the gospel, right? That we've experienced, we've encountered the good news, which is Jesus Christ, who has died for our sins, who the the who the grave or death could not hold, right? We have a living God who's given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. So it's from that vantage point that we walk in thanksgiving, right? Thanksgiving for what? That we have those things that our sins, the very things, our nature that warranted us being uh future residents of hell, that that's no longer our story because of the good news of Jesus Christ, that we are free from the sins and the bondages of sin and death because of Jesus Christ. So we approach God because He's the one who gave us or sent His Son for us. We see this in John 3:16. So we our response to that beyond accepting the gift of Christ is thanksgiving. It's gratitude. So that's what he's saying here. Be watchful in it with thanksgiving. And then

Doors For The Gospel And Paul’s Chains;

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he says, at the same time that you're in prayer with thanksgiving, pray, converse with God also for us, Paul and his friends here, that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ. Okay, let's just park that there for a minute. So, what's what's Paul doing here? He's saying, Would you pray for us as we're evangelizing, as we're going into these areas, as we're going and communicating with people that don't know God, who are hostile towards the way, towards Christianity, would you pray for us that the doors would be open, that we would we would be able to go and be able to communicate, share the good news of Jesus Christ, or his exact words, to declare the mystery of Christ, right? So that's what he's asking for. He's saying, Hey, keep us in your prayers, remember us. When you're talking to our Father, would you mention us? That's what he's saying here. And he says, this is very important, right? This is what he's saying. He says, on account of which I am in prison. He's not in prison for breaking the for stealing or breaking a law that would be worthy of prison. He's in prison, he's in jail, if you will, because he is heralding the good news. He is putting all of him to bear. He's putting it pushing it all in and saying, I'm willing to die for Christ, right? You can go read in Ephesians, or not Ephesians, Ephesians 2, but Philippians, where there's this appetite to know the sufferings of Christ and the resurrection to the point of the resurrection of the dead. But he's saying, I'm in prison for this very reason, because of my desire and my willingness to walk this out and go live Christ in communities. And so when you're talking to the Father, keep me in your prayers. And then he says, That I might, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak. So he's saying that when he presents the gospel, when he's living the gospel, that it will be made clear, that he'll communicate it in such a way that the listener, the audience, the the ones that are uh going to take this in, that they'll hear it and they'll understand it clearly because he is speaking clearly.

From Then To Now: Our Great Commission;

SPEAKER_00 6:05

So why is this important in for us today? Obviously, Paul is dead. It's important for us today because it's also given us direction on how we're to be living. You know, it's given us direction for praying for our brothers and sisters, not just, and I'm gonna say, missionaries, those overseas, those who are doing the work and will of God in foreign lands and going into the various places that maybe don't know Christ or have not heard the good news of Jesus Christ. But it's also telling us to have a heart for, because it's not just missionaries out there that we're all called, because we're all called to be missionaries. The Great Commission is a directive for all of us. So as we pray for one another, right? And this didn't die with Paul. This is this is what we've been mantled with, this is what we're called to here in the 21st century. So as we pray, we ought to be also be praying that we would speak with clarity, that we would seize the moments, that we would take the opportunities, right? That we would be able to declare the mysteries of Christ, right? And that we would be so passionate about this that we would be willing to say, even if it means me going to prison, even if it means it cost me something, maybe it cost me everything, right? It has cost those that have gone before us, it has cost them many times everything, not just prison, and I don't want to be dismissive of prison, but it's cost people their very lives to walk out the way, to follow Christ, to live Christ in a in a in a community that says what is true, that Jesus is the only way to God, to walk into countries, to live among people that that this message is hostile to, but that we believe what is true and we're willing to spend ourselves on it. And that he is saying, this is how important this is. I'm in prison because of this, and I'm okay with that. That we, as we read this, that we would not just say, hey, that's a good word, we should pray for those missionaries. We should also say, Am I willing, am I living this missional life that I'm willing to live and function and move and spin myself and see the various places that I go as opportunities to live Christ, communicate Christ in such a way that the mystery of Him is revealed. So as we uh sit in that space, I think that's a place that we want, I would just encourage each of us to reflect and say, hey, God, is that in me? I don't want to just be a reader of your word. I don't want to just be a consumer of it and go, wow, that's really good. That was a really good podcast. Or if you if you're you've heard this from a from a pulpit somewhere, you go, that's a really good word. And then we go back off into our busy lives. Know that we take this and we say, God, I'm you're calling me to something here. And I want to live this. I'm called to live this. Whether it's not just a want, I'm called, it's a command, it's a directive from God, right, to fulfill the great commission. So as we set in the scriptures, we unpack this, I want you to take personal ownership of this and say, Oh, God, is there something that you're calling me to here? And what does it look like for me to answer

Wisdom Toward Outsiders And Time;

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that call? So we're going to jump into verse six or verse five here. And he says, Walk in wisdom, wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. It's just based on the previous conversation or the verse that we just unpacked a little bit, he's given a directive that is goes beyond the scope of time or the time that he's been on the earth. He's given us a directive that represents to us, even here now in the 21st century, right? In 2026, you, Johnny, you listing audience, you who identify and Christ identifies as his his followers, walk in wisdom towards outsiders. Who are the outsiders? It's those that aren't in Christ yet, right? It says, walk in wisdom towards the outsiders, making the best use of your time. What is that? To make the best use of our time, to to work, to communicate with diligence, with intentionality, right? To live in such a way that they see Christ, they experience Christ when they interact with us, as they listen to us, and that we're we're we're being intentional about that. That's what I hear in this. Making the best use of time means to be intentional. He says in verse six, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. So, verse six, let your speech always be gracious, right? In a world where graciousness is really perceived as weakness, that we can be gracious, that we can be kind, right, that we can be thoughtful, we can be intentionally sensitive to the environment, knowing that our aim is to not manipulate, but to take opportunity to

Gracious Speech Seasoned With Salt;

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impart kindness, gentleness, truth into relationships, right? Whether those are the relationships of marriage, if it's the relationships of peers, it's relationships specifically here, I would say, of those who don't know Christ, those that are taking in our conversations, those that are taking us in in the the exchanges of just humanity throughout the day, that people are observing us, right? And as they're doing that, that they're going, wow, there's something different about that man. There's something different about that woman. They're living something different. And so that I believe that's what he's saying here. He says, Make the best of the time, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. We all know that even today, and I believe it was the same way with with Paul in his day, salt adds flavor, right? It it's it's a it's a brings a value and it and they enhances something. So seasoned with salt, so that we should be gracious, excuse me, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person, right? Because people are going to ask questions as we communicate, as we share the gospel with others, as we live the gospel, there's an onlooking world that is experiencing us. They're experiencing Jesus in us, right? They're experiencing the uh impact of the Holy Spirit maybe moving upon them, whether that's to convict of sin or to encourage them to lean in, to not walk away, to observe that we're we're living in such a way that people want to encounter, they want to engage us, they want to ask questions. Because here's the reality is that in my interactions with with uh men and women that aren't I'm gonna say aren't believers yet, aren't followers of Christ yet, in most cases they're not arguing that they're lost, they just don't know how to be found. And just be able to have an answer for them when they ask questions like who is who is Jesus?

unknown 13:22

Right?

SPEAKER_00 13:22

If they're that bold to ask that question, or why are you being kind to me? Why are you being encouraging? Why are you so peaceful? Why is there a hope about you? Why is there a smile on your face? I feel better when I'm around you, right? There's there's joy and peace and laughter that that seems to come out of you and orbit around you. And I am I'm I like being around you, and we know that it's not us, we know that that is Jesus, right? I I live a light-hearted life because my eternity is secure, and I know that I'm in right standing with the one who made this this whole human experience, that he calls me son, right?

Beloved Identity And Lasting Worth;

SPEAKER_00 14:05

As I just engaged over this weekend that we did a men's retreat called Encounter, I've kind of coined encounter 2026, getting to hear God speak again the word beloved, right? And an on-looking world, as we reflect on these scriptures, they don't know that they're beloved. Maybe they're not in a in a place that that one, they've even had someone, an earthly person, another human, right, call them beloved. But to be able to hear God say that they're beloved, right? We can say that because we know that that's true of us. That we are loved, we're cared for, we are adored by our Heavenly Father. We're so precious to Him that again, referring back to John 3.16, that He gave His Son for us. And to know that, I mean, I I might not be valuable to people on earth, but to God I am. Right? I'm reminded of this quote that my wife, I've heard her say often in in different uh circles of others not knowing your value doesn't change your worth. I love that that statement. I'm gonna say it again. Others not knowing your value doesn't change your worth. That maybe others here on earth, or maybe in the various circles that we walk in, they don't know our value, but we are worth so much to God. Everything, right? God come to earth in the form of a man and sacrifice himself for the redemption of us. And it wouldn't be even okay to if we even thought, well, the collective us. No, he did that for me. If I was the only man on earth, he would have done that for me. If you were the only man or woman on earth, he would have done that for you. You're that precious to him. That's your worth to him. And we know there's there's got to be a worth because there's a real enemy out there trying to make war. He is making war, not trying to make war making war against us to keep us out of fellowship and relationship with our Heavenly Father. Right? We don't make war on things that don't have any value. Right? We make war on things that are of great value, right? And to think that of the great value that we must have, that God is so invested in us, that's one to come to earth to redeem us, and we're so precious to God that Satan is so uh willing to make the war that he makes and try to not try but deceive and to lie and to tempt us into sins to keep us out of relationship with God, there we there we must be a prize, and that doesn't make us we shouldn't be inflated in our egos on that, but we also should not be deflated, we just go, God, thank you. My maker finds value in me and he loves me. So as we as we sit in that space and think about that with God and just say, God, thank you for loving me. Thank you, God, for loving me. And I'm gonna I'm gonna just share this other

God’s Goodness And Holy Reverence;

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thought. I've got a friend named Steve. I don't have his permission to use his last name, so I won't, but I'm reminded of a day or a time that he came into a Bible study and and and expressed this. He may have he made this statement. He had been up for several hours and he shared this this thought that he had been having that he said to think that uh God, right, that who we know is our Heavenly Father, that He is good, but if he were evil, he would be no less God. God doesn't owe us goodness. God is good, and in his goodness he's good to us. But if he were evil, who is man that we could contend with him? Right? He's God, we would just give him what he demanded because he's God. We we're who is man that we could contend with him? So the idea that I mean and the reality that God could be evil, but he's not is just again, it's just a testament of the goodness of God, the truth of God's word. And I don't know about you, but when I sat in that space that Steve sat in, it makes me again so grateful. It gives me Thanksgiving, a heart of Thanksgiving again for the generosity of God that that he does see value in me, and he sees value in humanity, that he's willing to come and spend himself on us that that we have the option to walk in holy, divine relationship with him. That's incredible. I don't know about you. I mean, just to me, that's just incredible. I just makes me so grateful for him all over again. So, but back to the word here.

Epaphras And Contending Prayer;

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So I mentioned a bonus scripture. So we're gonna jump down into chapter four, verse 12. And here's what here's what Paul says here. And this is part of his final greeting, and I'm not gonna read the whole greeting, I'm just gonna read these two verses. He says, Epiphras, which was a person's name, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in the will of God. For I bear witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hieropolis. So it's very interesting to me here what he says in verse 12, who is one of you, right? So again, that may be just as a resident of uh of the area, but he says, a servant of Christ Jesus. Wow, what a testimony. I don't know about you, but be able to say that someone would write of me, like you're a servant of Christ Jesus. I see that you're you serve Christ Jesus, I see that your that your life lines out, that I see behavior in you, I see action and vocabulary, I see words, I see what what around you that you serve Jesus Christ. What a great testament, what a great testimony of someone's life. And it says that he greets you. And this is what I love this right here. It says, Paul says, basically saying he always struggles on your behalf in his prayers. I don't know about you, but I can't tell you that. I mean, the word struggle, I think of a wrestling match, right? Here in uh in Stillwater, we have a great wrestling team here at OSU, and I think about the struggle of two men wrestling. So I think that when I think about that, him struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that he's contending with, right? To struggle in this um space here is to contend with. He's contending for these people in his prayers. He says that they may stand mature. He's not just saying God this, God that. He's saying there's just real clear things that he's praying and struggling over, that they may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. Right? Very interesting thing here. There actually is a will of God, right? That God has a will for each of us, a purpose, right? When I think about will here, I mean I believe what he's referencing here is that they will fulfill the purposes of God for their individual lives, for their generation.

unknown 21:20

Right?

SPEAKER_00 21:20

To be able to say that he's struggling on their behalf to and praying for them to stand firm and be fully assured in what God's purpose for them is, that they will fulfill it. And then Paul says, I bear him witness, in other words, I witness what he's doing, that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and and in Hieropolis. That he is working hard. That guys, this isn't just this this gift that we have in Christ is not just something that we we've written down and put in our pocket. It's not just in a book that we carry under our arm on Sunday mornings and go into church, it's not an app just on our phone or our iPad. It is something that we're to contend for and to contend with, right? Contend for to say this is worth

Living The Mission In Everyday Places;

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fighting for. It's worth this thing is this word, this good news has changed my life. And I have to do something with it. Those that I love need the good news too. They need, whether they realize it or not, they need Jesus, right? And to be able to say, I'm working hard towards that. That's the mission of our life is that we would, we may go to a job, but that job is the the field that we're called to to plant in, to water in, to harvest in, to be able to go, I'm going to live Christ in this environment. This this environment here is going to be an environment that people see Jesus because one of God's sons or one of God's daughters is here. So when we think about this here of uh epiphrast working and contending for this that that's us too. There's an epiph there should be an epiphras in each of us saying hey I'm willing to struggle I'm willing to work I'm contending for the gospel and I'm I'm I'm praying that God would be solid God would be strong God would be mature in in these people's lives. That are we praying for that are we believing for that are we are we these men and women ourselves right God forbid that we we just take this good news and we put it in our pocket. God forbid that we just leave it in the for in the pages of the Bible. We're called to live it we're called to share it. We're called to be light in the darkness. And that's my quest even as we've kind of jumped into these scriptures today is that that God we would engage you in prayer that we would contend right we would encourage others even as we need encouragement and that we would struggle we would struggle in prayer we would contend in prayer to engage the living God to say God function in me function through me so an onlooking world right to others in my home others in my my family brothers sisters aunts uncles parents grandparents those in my community would come to know you Jesus I often like to I like to say it this way that that God in my day in my time with my life that your blood won't be wasted on me that I will take this good news and I will herald it I

Closing Prayer And Commission

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will live it in such a way that an onlooking world will see it, inquire about it, and ideally it will be lived so wholly through me that they'll desire it. So with that I'd like us just to close in prayer. Again thank you for dialing in today or tuning in today let's just close this up in prayer and uh we'll go from there. Well Heavenly Father we just come before you Lord I thank you for this opportunity to engage in your word to engage with this onlooking audience Father I ask that you would take this word out of Colossians 4 Father and you would you would challenge us with it Father that we would be transformed that Father that we would take it and be intentional about prayer first of all and that Father that we would be contenders for the gospel that Father that we would love what you love we would hate what you hate and we would be willing to struggle to suffer to sacrifice Father as as Paul and others that have gone before us have to say God your blood the blood of Jesus is not going to be wasted on us we will we will be faithful in our generation in our time to share the good news to live the good news in such a way that an onlooking world will inquire that Father the this the treasure that we can store up in heaven father the the way that we live Father the and those the things there's a myriad of things here on earth that we cannot take with us father there's no earthly possessions that we can take but father we can take our our an onlooking world we can take brothers and sisters and potential brothers and sisters as we share Christ we can take them with us and Lord I just I ask that you would put on us a the right burden that we would we would be willing to contend for this that we would spend our lives on this father not just what we would do from a position of oh that's the job of a pastor that's the job of an elder no this is if we're if we've been marked by you God through Jesus Christ this this is our call this is your call on us to fulfill the Great Commission and that we would take that seriously father we wouldn't just send our money which is needful but we would we would say God you send me and that mission field doesn't have to be overseas it can be right here in my community can be right here in my home can be right there in my job site on my job site so father that we would see this and we would we would receive it and we would act upon it. And I pray all this in Jesus' mighty name amen again thanks for tuning in today look forward to engaging you guys again next week and we'll talk again soon. God bless