Colossians 4:12
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
Shortly after American forces left Afghanistan in August of 2011, Taliban forces had taken over control of most of the country, including the capital city of Kabul. I have a friend who works in the security business as well as training foreign governments in tracking and capturing child sex traffickers…and he had friends and associates who were stuck in Afghanistan at the time (Kabul). He was working feverishly to get them out. They were not in a safe area and had run out of food and water. I’m not sure what their final fate was.
Now, imagine that these people were your friends or family. What do you think your prayer life would be like on their behalf? Epaphras carried a burden like that for his friends and family in Colossae…and he prayed accordingly. Epaphras is a perfect example of a Christian who has devoted himself to prayer (Col 4:2) and stood ever ready to pray as the need arose. And remember that praying in one of our “weapons” in spiritual warfare. Think of it as a spiritual “walkie-talkie” you use as the bullets and bombs of life are flying. “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” (Eph 6:18).
Of special note is the fact that Epaphras didn’t just pray…he struggled in his prayer efforts. Perhaps a better description would be that he prayed earnestly or fervently. It’s the kind of prayer you muster when things are quite bad or challenging. The Greek word is agonizomai, which is where we get the English word agonize. In Paul’s day it was a familiar term in writings of both military and athletic endeavors and was used to emphasize the concentration, discipline, conviction, and effort needed to win in both arenas. It pictures a runner straining every nerve to the uttermost towards the goal and was used in secular Greek meaning to contend for the prize…in athletics or in battle.
Do you know anybody who labors in prayer like Epaphras did? Most likely all of us have prayed fervently at one time or another given extreme circumstances…but what is our regular prayer life like? How do you think Paul would describe your prayer life (or mine) in a letter to your church? I don’t think I’d enjoy reading that epistle if he were referring to me. This is an issue all of us should wrestle with. When we have direct access to the Creator of the Universe who loved us enough to die for us…what do we do with it? For myself, I know I need to take it far more seriously. What about you?
