May 7, 2025 Truth Today

In the previous verse, Paul asked for prayer for an open door to proclaim the mystery of Christ, and now that he may make it know as he should.

I see three things at play here.

1. Open door for proclamation

2. what to proclaim

3. how to proclaim

These prayers are in the context of the fact that Paul is at the time of writing this, in chains. Paul wanted to preach, but he was in chains, so he prayed for an open door.

He prayed not for an open door to get more money, but to reach more people with the mystery of Christ. He wants to go from place to place, anywhere he could get an audience.

That was his drive, that was his passion, that was the urgency he felt. He saw the chains as a limiting factor. He could not just get up and go preach; who he has access to and the time he has access to them was controlled.

The prayer for an open door may be a coded message for prayer for freedom from the bondage. How else would he have the open door to proclaim the truth? He wants to be unfettered is the prayer.

This is not the first time an apostle would be in prison. Peter was in prison with the sword figuratively dangling on his head. The church prayed (Acts 12). Before then, when the apostles were threatened to stop proclaiming the mystery of Christ they prayed (Acts 4).

Maybe Paul did not plainly ask the people to pray for his freedom because the guards may read the content of the letter. In the letter to the Philippians, he also asked for prayer to be free from prison, but also in a coded way.

• Philippians 1:19: "for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

With these two evidences, I am almost convinced that the there is a good change the guards read the letter. With that in mind, Paul was communicating the need for the people to pray for him to be released from prison, hence the need to ask for the prayer in a not-so-obvious way.

So rather than throwing up their hand and giving up because he was behind bars, he wanted them to pray. And his freedom is not for freedom sake.

1. Open door for proclamation

We need to understand that God has said that the recognition of His sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea (Habakkuk 2:14); and the LORD's temple will endure as the most important of mountains, and will be the most prominent of hills (Isaiah 2:2-3).

So, the desire for the message of the truth to expand is the prayer motivation that aligns with the will and purpose of God on the earth.

A lesson to learn from that is that our lives should be seen as for God's glory.

In a general sense, Paul told the different subgroups (wives, husbands, children, slaves, masters) how they give glory to God in their various functions.

But Paul saw the chains as a hindrance to his ability to glorify God in his life as he should be.

• There may be a physical chain on Paul's hands and feet, but in another place, he said he wanted to proclaim the gospel in certain places, but Satan hindered him (1 Thessalonians 2:18).

• While we know that all things work together for the good of those who are called (Romans 8:28), Paul never said God put me in prison.

• He said God uses it for his glory, but he did not say God did it. God did not do it, since we see that John wrote that all the earth lies in the power of the wicked one (1 John 5:19).

• We are also to pray that God should deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13).

The point I am making is that the devil wants to, one way or the other, bind the minister from proclaiming the gospel.

But Paul wanted the people to pray for his freedom to do so.

2. What to proclaim is the mystery of Christ

That is what he has been doing throughout the letter. He was not seeking freedom to go hide, but to go on and proclaim the gospel, even at the risk of the same freedom, meaning that no price is too high to pray for freedom.

3. How to proclaim

There is the content of the message, and there is the delivery. He wants to be able to make it known as he should. Not just to speak but also for the right impact.

In conclusion, while the open door may be about Paul's imprisonment, it can have another meaning as an opportunity to proclaim the mystery of Christ, which anyone can pray for themselves and others.