Struggling in Prayer

“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.”—Colossians 4:12

Prayer is one of the most powerful and unused weapons in the Christian’s arsenal. Many a Christian fails to take advantage of the opportunity we have to access the throne room of God. Now imagine for a moment some of the world’s most powerful leaders gave you unfettered access to them whenever you wanted it. Such a thought is unbelievable.

How can we, who are but flesh, have access to the divine throne room of God? How can we step into the presence of the thrice holy God, who dwells in unapproachable light? It is only because of the God-man Christ Jesus that we can do anything or have anything in the sight of God. Without Christ, we are lost, but with Christ we can boldly go before the throne of God with confidence that God will hear our prayers as the author of Hebrews wrote, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”—Hebrews 4:16.

One individual who went before God’s throne in prayer was Epaphras. Epaphras helped plant the church at Colossae and prayed for his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ often. He was their pastor, teacher, brother, and friend. He didn’t hesitate to let Paul know about the Colossians love for Christ and for one another (Colossians 1:7-8). Nor did he hesitate in praying for them as Paul wrote, noting that he was, “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.”

He knew the power of prayer and didn’t hesitate to pray. He struggled for them. He didn’t just pray for a few seconds and stop. No, he made their situation his own and prayed with great fervency and confidence. God delights when we pray to Him. He delights in men and women taking Him at His word and coming before His throne to intercede on behalf of others as we see in Epaphras. He wasn’t praying for himself, but for others.

Prayer not only invokes God’s help in a task or situation, but it transforms us at the same time. He knew the joy of praying for others—of going before the throne to lift up someone in prayer and of experiencing the presence of Christ’s Spirit at having done so. There is real blessing in interceding for other brothers and sisters in Christ, of seeing them changed, and knowing that we are doing what God has made and purposed us to do through prayer.

When is the last time you struggled in prayer for someone else? When is the last time you prayed that someone would be mature in Christ? God indeed works through our prayers and I pray that we might all endeavor to be like Epaphras, praying for one another, confident that God will hear and answer us—not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done on our behalf. Amen.