Prayer is not only one of the chief disciplines of the Christian life; it is one of the means God uses to accomplish His eternal plans and purposes.  It is the effective prayers of righteous people that accomplish the most according to James (Jam. 5:16).  Here in Colossians 4:2-4, Paul helps us understand the kind of prayers God uses to accomplish His plans.  It is the persistent, vigilant, prayers offered with thanksgiving that God answers (vs.2).  Also, it is prayer offered according to the will of God that He answers (4:3-4, 1:27).  Paul asked the believers in Colossae to pray that God would give him opportunity to make known the mystery of Christ.  To make Christ known among the Gentiles was God’s will for Paul (1:24-27).  Paul was asking the Colossians to pray God would accomplish His will.  What Paul realized is something we too must realize.  That is, God often accomplishes His plans, purposes, and will through the fervent prayers of His people.  As an application of this passage, we should pray for those who are charged with proclaiming God’s word that He might give them opportunities to speak it, and to speak it in a way that pleases Him.  We should certainly pray for pastors and missionaries, but also for each other as we endeavor to make Christ known in our communities.