BIG IDEA: Some doors are behind bars.

Day 1

Featured Verse: Colossians 4:2
- How would you describe what it looks like for you personally to devote yourself to prayer, rather than treating it as occasional or optional?
- In what ways has thanksgiving changed the way you pray, and what happens in your heart when gratitude is missing from your prayers?
- If someone close to you watched how you pray this week, what would they see about your devotion, your watchfulness, and your thankfulness?

“Without further preface, let me observe that there are three exhortations in the text connected with prayer. The first is continue; the second is watch; and the third give thanks. ‘Continuance’ sits like Moses on the top of the hill, while Watching and Thanksgiving, like Aaron and Hur, hold up its hands.” - Charles Spurgeon

Day 2

Featured Verse: Colossians 4:3–4
- Where do you see closed doors right now, and how do you pray when God has not opened them yet?
- If someone prayed that you would proclaim Christ clearly, as you ought to speak, what would need to change in your words, your courage, or your clarity?
- How do you tell the difference between a door God is opening for the Word and an opportunity you are forcing, and how does that distinction change your prayers?

“He was a prisoner. He cared little about that or about the fetters on his wrists, so far as his own comfort was concerned; but his spirit chafed at the restraint laid upon him in spreading the good news of Christ… Therefore he would engage his friends to ask God to open the prison doors, as He had done for Peter, not that Paul might come out, but that the gospel might. The personal was swallowed up; all that he cared for was to do his work.” - Alexander Maclaren

Day 3

Featured Verse: Colossians 4:5–6
- How would you describe speech that is full of grace, and where does your own conversation still fall short of that?
- What does “seasoned with salt” mean in the way you talk with outsiders, and how do you keep that from turning into either blandness or harshness?
- If the people outside the church who know you best described your walk and your words, what would they say about your wisdom, your use of time, and the flavor of your speech?

“Verse 5: ‘Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders.’ Wisdom is knowing what to do for the glory of God when the rule book runs out. It’s knowing how to become all things to all men without compromising holiness and truth. It is creativity and tact and thoughtfulness. It’s having a feel for the moment, and having an eye for what people need and want. In order to buy up opportunities for God, we have to be wise in our behavior.” - John Piper