Let me invite your attention tonight to Colossians chapter number four. Would you please take your Bibles with me? Let's go to Colossians chapter four this evening. You're turning there, let me say once again, it's good to be in the Lord's house. It's good to be in church on a Thursday night and dealing with the subject of missions and appreciate the presentation, the preaching already. My heart has thoroughly been encouraged and challenged, and I just want to give us something tonight that hopefully will help us, maybe instruct us a little bit to be better equipped to help in the work of missions. And so I pray that what God has for us tonight will be a blessing. You reach a place, let's stand together tonight, Colossians chapter number four. invite you with me if you would, those that are willing and able to stand, we'll read our text and let me say this, thanks to all those that have prepared the meals, we've eaten like royalty since we've been here and I just appreciate the accommodations, the hospitality towards myself and the family, no doubt the other guests that are here. So thank you for all that you have done, and may the Lord bless you tenfold for your generosity. Colossians chapter four, look with me if you would, beginning in verse number two. The Bible says, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. With all, praying also for us, that God would open to us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Our Father tonight, God, we have been challenged. Dear Lord, I pray that our hearts would be broken. I pray, dear Lord, that we'd come before you realizing how inadequate we really are. God, that we'd allow you to work in us in a great way. Father, I pray for the next few moments that you loosen my tongue, clear my mind. Father, might you fill my voice with us, saith the Lord. God, we don't want man's ideas and certainly don't want my opinions tonight. But God, if you'd meet with us, if you'd manifest your word to our hearts, what great things could be accomplished in this service. So Father, would you take this unworthy preacher tonight, use him as a vessel in your hands. Father, we'll be careful to thank you, praise you for it as we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so very, very much. You may be seated. The Apostle Paul is a missionary sent out from under the authority of the church at Antioch. He is writing this particular epistle to the church at Colossae. What we find, ladies and gentlemen, is interesting is that from everything we can tell, the Apostle Paul did not start this particular congregation. Now, we're not exactly told who started this church. According to chapter 1, verse 7, chapter 4, verse 12, it is quite appropriate, maybe likely, is the word that a man by the name of Epaphras had started this particular congregation and yet the Apostle Paul, the Bible tells us beginning in chapter number one in verse four that he had heard of their faith and he heard of the love that this church had for all the saints. And can I tell you, when a church has a reputation of being a church of faith and having a love for the people of God, that's a pretty good reputation to have for a congregation tonight. And so that's where they're at. Paul had heard these things and so he's writing a letter. He is trying to contact them and he proceeds and we get all the way down to our text tonight and I find it interesting that of everything Paul could have said or everything he could have requested from them, he requests what he does. Now, I find it interesting that he doesn't request money. Now ladies and gentlemen, he could have used money. I know sometimes that makes us uncomfortable and I don't know about you, but I don't always like preaching on money to be just real honest about it, but let's just go ahead and get the thing out there and just say what's the truth, is it takes money to get things done in order to feed missionaries, in order to get the gospel, in order to travel, in order to do the things that need to be done, it takes finances. Paul had told the church at Philippi in Philippians chapter four and verse 15. He had told that church that at one point they were the only ones that communicated with him as receiving and giving. And so no doubt he could have used the finances. Later on he tells the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. He actually apologizes to that congregation for not allowing them or holding them accountable and allowing them to support his ministry and work. Paul apologized and I'm just saying there's no doubt tonight he could have used the finances. But when he goes down and he heard about their faith and he heard about their love for the saints, he doesn't request finances. He doesn't request laborers. Now, ladies and gentlemen, Paul was a busy man. Paul was not one of these that went to the field and kind of took a vacation and twiddled his thumbs. I mean, Paul was a busy man about the work of God, doing everything that he could possibly do, taking advantage of every moment, of every opportunity. Paul Paul was consistently busy in the things of God. He often would send men like Timothy and Titus with letters to different churches. He left Silas and other times he would leave those that traveled with him in particular places to do the work of God. I don't think there's any doubt tonight that Paul was not overwhelmed with the amount of people that he had. He could always use more help and more labors for the work of God. but of everything that Paul could have asked for, of everything that he could have requested from them. He did not request money. He did not request labors. He looked and wrote to this particular congregation and he tells them to pray for him. You see, the Apostle Paul knew that the greatest need he had was that God would do a work that he wasn't capable of doing. We talked a little bit about it last night and I'll just reiterate for sake of our thoughts tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, there is a certain element of the work of God that you and I are not gonna do. We aren't gonna bring conviction upon a lost heart. You and I are not gonna bring salvation to a person's soul. We're not gonna change their life. No, we're to sow the gospel. We're to give them the message. We're to disciple them, teach them, train them, do all those things that God would want us to do. But my friend, there's a certain level that only God can do. And Paul knew that if God was to use him, that he was going to need the people of God reaching up to the throne of grace and getting a hold of God on his behalf. Paul actually often requested prayer from different churches. Listen as I read you just a verse or two tonight. In Romans chapter 15, verse number 30, Paul says this, now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. Paul told the church at Rome that they're helping fight the battle as they pray for him. He told the church in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 11, ye also help him together by prayer for us. He said, listen, we're in this thing together and often we say, well, there's a partnership, there's a fellowship in the ministry by giving and financing, and certainly that's true tonight, but my friend, it's more than just the dollar amount you give. We are in this thing together when we go and get a hold of God and say, God bless these missionaries to Africa and to Japan and to Papua New Guinea and to the rest of the world. Oh God, would you use them and do something? We're in this thing together tonight. Paul said, oh, listen, the greatest need I have is not just the money. It's not just those that would come work alongside me. The greatest need is that God's people would get on their knees and get a hold of God, that God might do something that we cannot. want us to look at our text tonight and preach just for a moment on this thought, a missionary's greatest need. A missionary's greatest need is the subject of prayer. So preacher, what can I do? I don't have a lot of finances. I don't have a lot of opportunities. I'm just a young person. I'm just a single lady or I'm just this or that or whatever it might be. Preacher, I don't have the ability tonight to do a lot of things. Can I tell you the wonderful thing is that every single child of God that has a relationship with him can go to their heavenly father and intercede and ask him to do a work on behalf of the missionaries. You don't have to be some great Bible scholar. You don't have to be a rich individual. If you're saved tonight, you've got a relationship with God. You can help every missionary with their greatest need. Let's look at our text tonight, shall we? Notice first of all, the involvement in prayer. Paul says this in verse number two, he says, continue in prayer. I find it interesting that he does not come to this church and say, would you start praying? Uh-oh, would you go ahead and start a prayer meeting on my behalf? Would you go ahead and start getting a hold of God? Would you be involved in this? No, when Paul writes to them, he's already heard of their faith, he's already heard of their love for the saints, and Paul is convinced in his heart that this church is already involved in praying. Notice what he says in verse number three. with all praying also for us. That word with all is an interesting word because it means to be together with at the same time. You see what Paul's saying here? While you're praying for your needs, And while you're going and praying for your ministry and your community and your pastor and your church congregation and God to work on your behalf and to work in your life and to do things here with all praying also for us. In other words, his idea was, he had heard about their faith, he heard about their love, and he was convinced, I'm gonna write to somebody that's already involved in this issue of praying, and he says, continue in prayer, and with all, at the same time you're praying for the things here, Paul says, don't forget about me. He was convinced. You see, why on earth would he ask them to pray for him if he wasn't already convinced that they were praying for the things in their own community, in their own congregation? You understand? Tonight, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for you and I to wanna get ahold of somebody and ask somebody to pray on our behalf for what God's doing in our ministry, in our neck of the woods, as they say. And ladies and gentlemen, unless we believed that they were already praying for the things God has them involved in. Because here's the truth. If they're not praying for those things which they have a part in, if they're not praying for their own community, if they're not praying for God to use the church body that they're a member of and they're a part of, that God would use that as a lighthouse to reach out to their community and to their area. If they're not praying for things that they are a part of and they see with their own eyes, what is the likelihood they're gonna pray for somebody across the world that they don't see and they don't know and they don't have a part of? Paul said, I want somebody praying for me that I believe prays already for their own. I tell you tonight, it's an important thing. that you and I would begin to pray. Listen, I want God to use these missionaries and I'm excited about what I hear and the things that are going on and I'm excited about what God has led the Rowley family out of our church and the Hollins and other ministries and things, but I tell ya, it's not a very realistic idea that I'm gonna get burdened and I'm gonna get a heart for somebody on the other side of the globe when I don't have a heart for my own neighbor that lives next door to me. Paul said, listen, continue. Just continue in prayer and with all praying also for us. We see the involvement in prayer tonight. And I just used this illustration. If I had a dire need, if we went to the doctor and I was to find out that something was terminally wrong with my wife, I'd wanna get a hold of those that I thought knew how to get a hold to God. I'd wanna start asking for prayer for those that had a relationship and had an avenue to heaven because I've got a dire need that I need answered. And that's the idea with Paul here. With all praying also for us. So we see the involvement in prayer tonight. But then we see the instructions from prayer, of prayer. He says, pray also for us. And notice that next little word, that. Don't you love the thoroughness of the Bible? I don't understand people that read the Word of God and say, man, you know, this just isn't relevant. I'm glad the Bible's simple. I'm glad it's instructive. I'm glad it's helpful tonight because Paul didn't just say, hey, pray for me whatever you want to pray about. No, he got real specific about what he wanted from this particular congregation and he instructs them on some particular areas and needs that he had. with all praying also for us that. Here's what I'm after. And so he instructs them. I wanna take a moment or two tonight and give you some instructions on prayer and praying for missionaries. I wanna give you some practical things that sometimes we as American Christians Church members go about our business never realizing, never thinking perhaps maybe about what a missionary goes through and what they deal with. And so let me just give you some things. I'll not be too long with this, but I just wanna give you some help, some instruction tonight in this idea on prayer. And so first of all, may I tell you tonight that we ought to pray for their faith. Hey, it takes a lot of faith. to walk away from a full-time job and a full-time employment and be able to go across the seas and trust the Lord for that which God would want. I don't believe this idea that God just sends men to the mission field because they can't do anything else. Hey, a lot of times missionaries gave up careers. They gave up potential. They gave up dreams. They gave up all this, not because they're being down in the mouth and saying, wow, look what we've sacrificed. No, they counted it an honor and a privilege. And I'm telling you, you ought to pray for their faith because they got to continually trust in God. Can I tell you, you ought to pray for their foundation. Hey, In this day and age, you need to pray that the missionaries and those that you would support out of this church would be on the same page doctrinally. I appreciate your pastor and his studiousness and I've been around him to know enough that he takes the Word of God very seriously and he's very studious in those areas and you ought to thank God for that because I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with potential missionaries coming along the way and I just say, well, what do you believe about this? I don't know, I've never been asked that. And I'm not talking about some off-the-wall Bible reference on the backside of nowhere. I ask questions, what do you believe about the church? What do you believe about the Bible? What do you believe about baptism? What do you believe about the Lord's Supper? What do you believe about these doctrines? And I'm telling you, I've been saddened more times than not about some of the answers because some of these guys that are going to the field got no clue what they believe. I'm not trying to be ugly, I'm just telling you, you ought to pray for their foundation because my friend, they need to, no, no, no, no. They must build their ministry on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. You ought to pray for their family. They often go to the field and they're, They're working, they're literally building a work for God from scratch. Sometimes the missionary's gotta do everything. Sometimes there's not adequate family time. I've known sometimes missionary kids began to be a little resentful. began to feel like, well, where do we play into this? And in a day and age where a world and a society has low standards of what a family ought to, you ought to pray for the missionary that he and his family can be a testimony about what a godly home ought to be. You ought to pray for their finances. No, no, hey, they've got to, go to the store, they've got to do things. It's the truth of the matter is a lot of times a missionary will spend two plus years on deputation, he'll go to the field with inadequate support, and then churches for one reason or another go through trouble, they go through trials, inflation, all that kind of stuff affects them. Well, I pray God, please keep them financially stable, help the dollar. Why? So my 401k can be what? No, no, no, no. So our missionaries can continue to stay on the field and get the gospel to those that need it. We ought to pray for their fitness. You say, what do you mean? Their health. In foreign country, there's all kind of things. There's malaria, there's HIV, there's hepatitis, there's all kind of things. Hey, hey, hey, we can gripe as long as we want to about our healthcare and the way things are going and that kind of stuff, but can I tell you this? We still got some of the best healthcare this world has to offer right here in this country. And I got it, I've got my political views and got my opinions, but the truth of it is, missionaries go to the field, and sometimes they'd be better off just staying home than going to some of those hospitals and things. You'll catch more leaving than what you had when you went. You ought to pray for their fitness, you ought to pray for their family. You ought to pray for their foundation and their faith. Can I also tell you tonight that you ought to pray for fruit? Hey, hey, we're not sending missionaries to the field. May I say it this way? We ought not send missionaries to the field just to get a report on some letter about how many check boxes they've got and how many professions and how many baptisms. We're not looking for that kind of stuff. We're looking for missionaries to bear fruit that'll remain. By the way, they bear fruit, don't produce it. Jesus is divine, we're the branches, we bear fruit. As we're connected to him, it's a natural process that comes. We bear fruit. We ought to pray for that, we want churches. that are not tied to the missionary in the sense that they need his financing and his dollars, but when he leaves the field, they'll continue to be able to follow God and see God work on their behalf and meet their needs and meet their wants and wishes and things. I'm telling you, we ought to pray for fruit that outlasts a missionary's ministry. We ought to pray for their flesh. Preacher, you think missionaries are fleshly? I'll tell you something tonight. This may shock you. They've got the same flesh you do. They got the same flesh I do. What kind of flesh is that, Preacher? One that's wicked. One that can get carnal real quick. The greatest enemy, somebody asked me, Preacher, what's the greatest enemy you face? It's the ugly guy I look at in the mirror every morning. Hey, I deal with the devil, I deal with the world, but honestly, the greatest enemy, the greatest problem, the greatest hindrance I have in the work of God is myself tonight. I've known missionaries to go to the field, I'm talking about good people, get caught in a situation, get caught in circumstances, and disqualify themselves to the point that they ought to come home. But guess what happens? God ends up wearing a black eye for what's happened. God help us to pray for their flesh. We also ought to pray for their fears. You know what I found? When you step off American soil into the different parts of this world, it's a different place. It's a different world. And there are things that, I'll just be honest with you, first time I ever went to Papua New Guinea, we got dropped off by plane in the jungle, watched that plane fly off, and here we are out in the middle of nowhere. I'm thinking, if I have a heart attack or something happens, I'm dying right here. It didn't take me very long to realize that this isn't Oklahoma, this isn't America. There's a different place and sometimes there's fears that come with that. Missionaries get away from home, get away from their church, the fear of being isolated sets in. And I tell you tonight, we ought to play for their frustrations. So what do you mean by that? There's a real thing called culture shock. I've said it tonight already in jest, but it's not really jest. Ladies and gentlemen, the rest of the world doesn't always think like we do. They don't look at things the way we do. They don't have the same worldview that we have. They don't have the same mentality and the same mindset. And there's a lot of missionaries that go to the field and because of the culture in which they're in, they just can't adjust. and they end up coming home. You ought to pray tonight for the frustration for the flesh. You ought to pray for their fears. Can I also tell you tonight that you ought to pray for their flame? So what do you mean by that? You ought to pray for their revival, for their zeal for the work of God. Hey, I've already told you, they're like you and I. We have sometimes revival meetings. Why? Because we all need that encouragement. We all need that shot in the arm. And sometimes we need that rebuke. Sometimes we need that comfort of heart. Sometimes we just need God to reach down from heaven and tap His finger on our heart and say, hey, You know better than that. And sometimes it's done through a week-long meeting or whatever it might be, and God'll use that. And I'm just telling you, not all the time do missionaries have that opportunity. They can get burnt out like we can. And I tell you tonight, you ought to pray for their fellowship. You ought to pray for the fellowship. One of the great things about the New Testament church is the fellowship of God's people. Hey. I'm gonna say something and I know exactly where I am and what's going on, so please take this with the right heart because I mean it from the very depth of my soul. I appreciate technology. I appreciate that you can have shut-ins and you can have sometimes those who are sick and those things and still be able to be a part of the service in the regards that it is. But may I say tonight that the live streaming and those kind of things does not replace the house of God and the assembling of God's people. Hey, you'll never get through a computer screen the fellowship that is needed amongst the assembly of God's people. I'm glad. I'm glad I can walk into our church back home and I can maybe have had a bad day, maybe everything ain't going quite right. I'm glad that I can get out of the pulpit, lay a dud, And my church family still love their preacher. And they'll come say, hey preacher, and just lift my spirit, they'll encourage my heart. Hey, there's something about the fellowship of the house of God. Don't ever take that for granted tonight. Because there are missionaries that'll get on the foreign field and would long to be able to sit back in their home church around the body that God's made them a part of. And they don't have that. And I tell you tonight, you ought to pray for their furloughs. You ought to pray for when they come back. Acts chapter 15, the apostle Paul, after he and Barnabas made that first missionary journey, they return back to the church at Antioch and they report for all the great things that God hath done. Hey, furlough isn't something that we just come up with. It's actually a biblical pattern given to us from the Word of God where the missionary returns and reports personally with what God has done. Do you know what sometimes furlough will do? instead of being a time in which he can report and be encouraged by the house of God and the church family and that extended network that support the work and things. You know what happens sometimes on a furlough? Sometimes we grow up in the same church. Sometimes we grow up under the same standards, the same doctrine. We take for granted what we've got. Missionaries will come home and what was once a good church, five, six, seven, eight years ago, no longer stands where it once did. They've dropped their doctrines. They've began to drop their standards. They've began to change. Instead of furlough being a time to rejoice in the goodness of God and what God's accomplished, There's a lot of times a missionary will come home and he can't wait to get out of the rat race and the mess that has become among some churches today. I'm not trying to be judgmental and I'm not trying to be ugly, but it is a reality nonetheless. We ought to pray in these areas. We ought to pray for their faith. We ought to pray for their foundation. We ought to pray for their family. We ought to pray tonight for their fitness and their finances and the fruit. We ought to pray for their flesh, the fears. We ought to pray for the frustrations that come along. We ought to pray for the flame that they have. We ought to pray for the fellowship that they need. And we ought to pray for the furloughs that they have along the way. I'm so glad tonight that Paul gave us an example. He said, with all praying also for us, that's the involvement in prayer. That, that's the instructions for prayer. Let me close with this tonight and give you the impact from prayer. Because here's what he says. He says, with all praying also for us that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in bonds. You know what prayer will do tonight? Prayer will open doors that nobody else on planet Earth can open. You got missionaries today that said, well, You'll never get into that country unless you go through this mission organization and unless you go through this agency and unless you do that. And the truth of the matter is, my friend, it's not agencies or organizations that open doors, it's the God of heaven himself. He opens doors. He opens doors for missionaries to get into countries. He opens the heart of some of the most wicked, undone people that's ever walked the face of this planet. Several years ago, we were highly involved in prison ministry and we were in a particular facility and there was a young man in his mid-30s at the time that was coming to service. And he started coming and I started watching him and man, he started cluing in. I mean, he started zeroing in. You see God was beginning to work on his life. And I got a burden for him and I just started praying for him day after day after day. One Tuesday night, we were in the facility preaching. Chris walked the aisle. got saved that night, let us take a Bible and point him to Christ. Chris had been incarcerated for 10 years at that time. His last day as a free man was spent in an eight-hour standoff with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department. Right before they raided his home, he stuck a pump shotgun under his chin and pulled the trigger twice, and it never went off. He said, Preacher, I was willing to walk out into eternity that day. He said, God, salvage my life. Chris has since got out of prison, gotten into church, serving the Lord. You think, oh, Preacher, we live in such a gospel inundated world and nobody wants to hear, hey, they're lost. No one, of course they don't wanna hear. But the gospel doesn't harden hearts. The gospel softens hearts and breaks through some of the coldest and hardest of places and hearts that we could imagine. And my friend, what might be, if you and I would just be able to get a hold of the throne of grace and get a hold of the God of heaven, what God might do, in people's lives. Chris told me, he said, Preacher, I remember as a boy, my grandma praying that God would get a hold of me. He said, Preacher, I believe I'm alive today. I believe I'm saved because of the prayers of my grandma so many years ago. Hey, you may think that your prayers aren't really doing that much, but you may never know this side of eternity. What you've accomplished by reaching up and getting a hold of God. The impact of prayer. Paul said, with all praying also for us, that God would open to us a door of utterance. to speak the mystery of Christ, which I am also in bonds. Would you pray for me? He said, just pray for me. While you're praying, while you're praying for all the things that you're dealing with, pray for me for this, that God would open up a door. I wonder tonight, if God wouldn't to get a hold of our hearts. And we wouldn't recommit ourselves to making prayer not just a part of our life, but the priority. Because the greatest thing we can do is not just give money, not just sin, but to get a hold of God, that God will do what only God can do. It's a missionary's greatest gift.