Topic: Praying for an Open Door
“Open doors” is a metaphor in the New Testament describing how God opens an opportunity for the gospel to be shared.
I Corinthians 16:9 “because a great door for effective work has opened to me”
2 Corinthians 2:12 “now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me”
Colossians 4:2-4, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 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; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.”
Revelation 3:8, “I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”
Revelation 3:8 is addressed to the church in Philadelphia. There are two reasons why God put this open door before the Philadelphia church:
1. They had kept God’s Word. They had been true to God and the teachings of His Word. In some of the other churches they were criticized for compromise and false teaching, but this church had not yielded to those temptations.
2. They had not denied Jesus’ name. These disciples were persecuted there just like in the other cities, yet they had not crumbled under the pressure to the Jewish opposition.
As Project Grow is beginning the second year of praying and giving for the future expansion, my prayer is that New Life will see the door of ministry opportunity that God is opening for us.
Prayer principles we ought to keep in mind:
- Pray that God would open doors of evangelism and ministry to the church so we can fulfill our purpose.
- Pray to recognize the door that Christ opens.
- Prayer for the faith and courage to step through the open door. What God opens; God directs.
- Pray that we seek God’s open door and not be distract by the size of the door. Philadelphia Church was small in size, they were not a large congregation, but that did not prevent God from opening doors to them for ministry.
Right now, the building expansion looks big, and the price tag looks even BIGGER. What New Life has experienced the past seven years is a God door of opportunity. God never ceases to amaze me that when we walk through His door by faith, He will provide all that is needed.
See you Sunday!
Dr. Scott Kallem