Colossians 4:2-6 → Steadfast Praying, Wise Walking, Gracious Speaking
- Steve Schott
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Theme
► The main theme of Colossians, in my opinion, is the deity of Jesus Christ - His fullness as God, and His complete sufficiency as having done all that is necessary to save us from our sins.
► Colossians 2:9-10a → "9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete,..."
→ Who Jesus is, is complete - the supremacy of the Person of Jesus
→ What Jesus has done, is complete - the sufficiency of the work of Jesus
• There is nothing that we can add to this to effect, improve, or add value to, our salvation.
► Paul will spend the rest of this letter, both carefully elaborating on the divine character of Jesus, and also being very specific about the completeness of what Jesus did on the cross to obtain our salvation.
► Attacks, if you will, from outside the church (and perhaps some from inside the church), that suggest that more is needed, specifically within the framework of our human efforts, to fully obtain salvation, will be shot down like enemy missiles, the intent of which is to destroy our faith.
Outline
► An outline of the Book of Colossians
→ (This is the outline used by the group of teachers I participate with at our church. All of my blog postings for Colossians are following this outline)
Theological
• Pretty much everything in this section (chapters 1 and 2), including Paul’s greeting, is dialoguing about the truth of Jesus, and how it has impacted our lives, and will continue to do so in the future.
• Even when Paul is dealing with the false teaching, he’s dealing with the false teaching in light of the truth about Jesus he’s already dealt with up to that point.
1 → Introduction to the Book of Colossians
2 → 1:1-12 Greeting and Prayer for the Colossians
3 → 1:13-18 The Preeminence of Christ
4 → 1:19-23 Reconciliation Through Christ
5 → 1:24-29 Paul's Ministry to the Church
6 → 2:1-7 Reaching the Riches of Full Assurance
7 → 2:8-15 Made Alive Together With Christ
8 → 2:16-23 Let No One Disqualify You
Practical
• Once we get into chapter 3, and through chapter 4, Paul’s approach will be much more centered on how to live out this true gospel in our everyday lives, in the community of the body of Christ.
9 → 3:1-8 Seek the Heavenly, Put to Death the Earthly
10 → 3:9-17 Put on the New Self
11 → 3:18-4:1 Rules for Christian Households
12 → 4:2-6 Steadfast Praying, Wise Walking, Gracious Speaking
13 → 4:7-18 Final Greetings
Intro to today's passage
► In this second to last portion of the letter to the Colossians, Paul emphasizes the character he desires for the believers to maintain.
► He gives these last few words as an encouragement on how to have both the internal and the external experience of the Christian life show forth the love of Jesus to those around them.
Passage
→ In these first 3 verses, Paul focuses on prayer.
→ In verse 2, Paul reminds them of some general principles of "prayer".
• 1st, that they would "devote yourselves" to it. He wants them to make it a constant part of their lives.
• 2nd, that they would be "alert" in it. Not being distracted, or just randomly throwing up some words, but carefully crafting what they need to say to God, with intention.
• 3rd, that as they pray, and consider all that God has done for them, that they would express "thanksgiving". At all times, when they consider the salvation they've received, that came at such a great price, that they would continually be thanking God, not just in their spirit, but with their words.
3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will 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; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
→ Next Paul asks them to pray for him and his cohorts, as they continue to share the gospel with any and all who they come in contact with. Asking them to both remember his imprisonment, as well as, that he would have clear indication of what he is supposed to say when.
→ Paul then challenges the believers in Colossae to exercise wisdom when dealing with non-believers, so that they would make "the most of the opportunity." He doesn't want them to blow their testimony by behaving badly.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
→ You've probably heard the expression "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."
→ I've heard this my entire life and only today found out that it came from the 1942 Disney movie "Bambi", and was stated by the character "Thumper".
→ It's applicable here as Paul reminds them to "let your speech always be with grace", meaning that your words should be like a gift for those who hear you.
→ He adds that their words should be "seasoned with salt", which means your words should also taste good.
→ The hope is that your positive words should prompt others to want to know just exactly what it is that makes you so nice.
→ Which would, we hope, give you the opportunity to "respond to each person" with the message of the saving work of Jesus Christ.
So What?
► This passage encourages us to develop an inner, consistent practice of prayer, always with thanksgiving, that can and will empower our work for the Lord.
► We also need to live wisely, so that because of our positive behavior, we might have opportunity to share the gospel with others.
► And in like fashion, we need to be very careful with our words, so that what we say doesn't negate the opportunity to share.
► And just the opposite of that is to intentionally use words that give "grace" to those who hear.
Photo • 1/24/2026 - Snowing at midnight, Claremore, OK
“Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org”
All linked verses are from the YouVersion at www.Bible.com
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