Be an Epaphras

"Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis." (Colossians 4:12-13)

Tomorrow is the big costume day for some of you. But the question of what kind of Christ-follower you will be will continue for the rest of your life. Paul has another role-model for you.

Epaphras was a Colossian guy with a rep as a muscular pray-er. He approached prayer as battle, and he prayed to win. He "wrestled" in prayer for people. I take that to mean that he saw prayer as so powerful -- so critical to changing things for the better -- that he was ready to throw down in spiritual warfare or even just against his own attention span.

How hard do we work at praying for others? Do we think of praying as lesser work, as less effective than actually "doing something" like feeding the hungry, telling the gospel, or teaching Sunday School? Maybe we don't work as hard at prayer because we're not as convinced that it matters.

Epaphras knew it did, and he fought to do it effectively.

Think: What could you change in your life this week to make more time to do some prayer wrestling? What would you have to wrestle against, do you think, to pray more effectively for others?

Pray: Ask God to give you the strength, wisdom, and courage to wrestle in prayer for others.

Do: Think of three people in your life who need prayer and make a commitment with yourself to spend time praying for them this week

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