Are we praying for open doors?

In Colossians 4:2, the Apostle Paul asked his Christian audience to pray for him that he would have open doors to proclaim the Gospel. What makes this request so intriguing is where Paul was at the time when we made this request. He was in prison. He was confined to a jail and mostly likely spent time chained to a Roman guard. When making this request he could have asked for many things. He could have asked that he could be released from prison. He could have asked that the doors of the jail would be open to him and that he could walk out a free man.

But instead he was asking for hearts to be opened to the Gospel. He was more concerned that the Gospel went forth than that he would be released from his physical jail.

Did he want to be released? Absolutely. But being physically released was secondary to having opportunities to proclaim the Gospel.

I imagine for many us, if we were in prison, the Gospel could easily become a secondary concern. Our main prayer reuqest would be: pray that I would get out of here!

And yet Paul viewed life differently. And living with the mindset that Paul lived begins with having Gospel-centered prayer life. It begins with us asking that God would open doors in our life, in our family, at work, in our neighborhood, for the sake of the Gospel. It begins by asking God that we would see those ordinary, everyday opportunities that he is providing for us even in our physical trials.

As we consider our prayer life what are we asking for? Are we simply wanting release from our physical discomforts and pains or are we consumed with a bigger picture that the Gospel goes forth regardless of our circumstances.