An Unseen Witness
We have all heard of the great commission given in Matthew 28:16-20, which born-again believers are called to go and make disciples of all nations and teaching the Word of God. When we are presented with the opportunity to witness to someone, that is exactly what we need to be doing. When I am reminded of Matthew 28, I am also reminded of Luke 12:11-12, “11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” Matthew 28 talks of our duty as followers of Jesus Christ while Luke 12 encourages us not to be afraid that we won’t know what to saw when we are witnessing. However, I do believe there is another section that needs to be reviewed when we are considering witnessing.
“2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 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 proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to proclaim it.”
Colossians 4:2-4
Often times when we are tasked with the idea of witnessing to someone we immediately believe that the only way to be effective is to have that one on one relationship with an individual to discuss Christ. All to often we feel that the only way to complete Matthew 28 is through teaching others of Christ. However, I do not believe that is the case and I believe that Colossians 4 shows this.
We are all called to make disciples, there is no getting around that. We should not love someone to death and not teach them of Christ, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” 1 Corinthians 1:18. However, there will come times when we are not in the position to witness to someone. We could simply be made aware of the act of witnessing by someone who confides to us in situations such as life groups. This is where Colossians 4 comes in. If we are made aware that a fellow brother or sister in Christ is witnessing to someone, we need to approach the situation with prayer. If you are struggling on how to pray for that situation look again at Colossians 4. Pray that the door is open for the believer to witness and pray that God gives them the words to use to help lead someone away from their own eternal doom.
Prayer is the artillery in a Christians life, it is why prayer is included in the armor of God described in Ephesians 6:10-19. And I fully believe that Christians do not use prayer as much as they should when it comes to witnessing to others. I know this is true for myself; both in the sense that I need to pray more for those around me who are witnessing to non-believers, but I am also proof that praying for those who are witnessing is effective. Before I came to know Jesus, I had my soon to be husband witnessing to me. However, unknown to me, he also had the men’s group that he met with praying for me. I can assure you that those praying were living out Colossians 4 and I encourage you now to live it out as well. You don’t have to be the one teaching someone about Christ; you can be just as effective in using the armor given to us by praying for their salvation, and praying that the one who is teaching the nonbeliever is able to accurately portray the Scriptures.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex