For the full sermon audio message click here: Lives Hidden With Christ - Devoted
We have come to the end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Over these weeks, we’ve walked carefully through this small but theologically rich book, and now we arrive at its final exhortation. Today, our focus is Colossians 4:2–6. Beginning in verse 7, Paul turns to personal greetings, material we touched on in our introductory message, so here, at the close, we attend to the heart of his final instruction.
Paul writes:
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
(Colossians 4:2–6)
A Life Hidden with Christ
From the very beginning, we said that the heart of Colossians is this vision of a life hidden with Christ. The church in Colossae was facing pressure from outside teachers, voices insisting that fullness with God required rule-keeping, special knowledge, or spiritual techniques. Paul responds decisively: life with God is not found in striving or spectacle, but in Christ himself.
To live hidden with Christ means setting our minds on things above. It means putting to death what belongs to our old way of life and putting on compassion, kindness, humility, and love. Our lives are meant to look different—not because we are superior, but because we belong to Jesus.
So it is striking that as Paul brings this letter to a close, after casting such a beautiful vision of the Christian life, he begins here:
“Devote yourselves to prayer.”
Prayer as the Air We Breathe
For Paul, a life hidden with Christ begins—and continues—with prayer.
To be devoted to prayer is not to master a technique or recite the right words. It is a posture of constancy, attentiveness, and perseverance. Paul envisions prayer as something ongoing, something woven into the fabric of everyday life, like the air we breathe or the water in which we swim.
So often, we treat prayer as a spiritual specialty. Some people are “prayer warriors,” while the rest of us quietly assume prayer just isn’t our gift. We imagine prayer requires the right posture, the right words, or the right intensity. But Paul makes no such distinctions.
Prayer is not magic. It is not reserved for experts. There is no “correct” posture, volume, or formula. You can pray out loud or silently, on your knees or lying in bed. If you fall asleep while praying, God is not offended, rest, too, is a gift.
Paul’s call is simple and profound: be devoted to prayer. Let it be natural. Let it be ordinary. Let it be constant.
Watchful and Thankful
Paul pairs devotion to prayer with watchfulness and gratitude. Prayer, more than anything else, teaches us to pay attention.
When we are devoted to prayer, we begin to notice people. We become more present, more attentive, more aware of the needs and stories unfolding around us. It’s not that opportunities suddenly appear out of nowhere, it’s that we finally see them.
I’ve noticed this in my own life. During seasons when prayer shapes my days, brief prayers while driving, walking, or pausing, people seem more likely to say, “Can you pray for me?” It’s not because the world suddenly changes. It’s because prayer changes me. I make eye contact. I listen. I notice.
There’s a story I love that captures this perfectly. Years ago, friends of ours in Bloomington-Normal felt called to serve international students at Illinois State University. Yet they were convinced none existed, despite living there for forty years. Their ministry coach encouraged them to pray simply that God would help them see.
They did, and suddenly international students were everywhere. Entire residence halls. Hundreds of faces they had never noticed before.
Prayer had opened their eyes.
And that watchfulness naturally led to gratitude. They were overwhelmed with thankfulness for the people God had placed right in front of them all along.
Prayer That Sends Us Out
Paul then asks the Colossians to pray—not just for themselves, but for those proclaiming the gospel:
“Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”
This is a good and necessary reminder. We pray for missionaries. We pray for pastors. We pray for one another, that the mystery of Christ would be spoken clearly and faithfully.
But prayer does not stop there.
When prayer becomes the air we breathe, it shapes the way we live among others. As a friend of mine often says, “Before you talk to people about God, talk to God about people.”
That posture leads directly into Paul’s words in verses 5 and 6.
Conversations Full of Grace
Paul calls us to wisdom, intentionality, and grace toward those outside the faith:
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt.”
Grace means meeting people where they are, not demanding they change before they belong. It means showing up in their lives without conditions or strings attached. This is how God has always worked.
God wanted to save humanity, so God became human. In Christ, God entered our world, walked alongside us, and loved us with compassion and truth. Jesus knew how to answer people because he knew how to see them.
We are called to live the same way.
Transformation does not happen through arguments or logic alone. Change happens through the work of the Holy Spirit. Our role is not to coerce belief, but to create spaces of belonging, places where people are welcomed, loved, and seen.
We do not believe and then belong.
We belong, and then belief grows.
Seasoned with Salt
Salt, used well, does not overpower. It brings out what is already there. It enhances flavor.
This is what grace does. Followers of Jesus should bring out the best in the people around them. Our presence should help others become more fully themselves—not trapped, preserved, or boxed in, but freed to grow.
Too much salt preserves things exactly as they are. Grace, rightly lived, invites growth.
So we must ask ourselves: Are our lives bringing out the best in others? Are we creating communities where people can belong, grow, and encounter love without conditions?
A People in Process
Paul ends Colossians reminding us that this life, hidden with Christ, is not about arrival, but about formation. Even Paul says he has not yet arrived. We are all in process, being shaped by grace.
That is why we return again and again to Scripture. That is why we pray. That is why we keep taking the next small step.
If we leave Colossians with one tangible invitation, it is this:
Be a people devoted to prayer.
Let prayer be the air you breathe.
Let grace shape your conversations.
Let your life, hidden with Christ, be good news to the world.
A Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We thank you for your grace, your mercy, and your love revealed in Jesus. Thank you that we are invited into your presence through prayer, freely and fully. Shape us into a people who are watchful, thankful, and gracious. May our lives proclaim the mystery of Christ clearly, not just in our words, but in the way we love.
Amen.