TOPIC: LABOURING FERVENTLY IN PRAYERS
Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God (Col 4:12)
MESSAGE
The apostle Paul cites Epaphras as one “Always labouring fervently in prayers.” Those two words “labouring fervently” are rendered that way to provide a good understanding of what he actually did and how. Both words are from the same Greek word ‘agonizomai’—fight!
You can read that verse thus, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, greets you, always fighting for you in prayers.” A question to ask would be, “If Epaphras was fighting for them in prayers, who was he fighting against?” It certainly wasn’t God, as it was God who inspired him to pray in the first place; it’s God who hears and answers prayers. So, certainly, God is not the enemy.
Now, the purpose of his prayer gives us an idea of the enemy. His prayer was for the Christians in Colossae to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. This must be because there’s an enemy, Satan, out there trying to stop them from becoming perfect and complete in the will of God. This he tries to do by hindering or attempting to hinder their Christian growth.
Paul describes these demoniacal forces in Ephesians 6:12 when he said, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” These evil forces are the ones darkening the minds of men, swaying them from the path of God’s truth.
It’s the reason we must fight for them in prayers as Epaphras did. I encourage you to write down names of people who you might have noticed or heard are not walking in the light of God’s Word or have strayed from the faith, and fight for them in prayer. Pray fervently for them every day, and you’d see remarkable results. Hallelujah!
PRAYER / CONFESSION
Dear Father, I break the influence of Satan over my family members, friends and others around the world who aren’t yet born again. I pray that their minds and hearts are opened to the Lord, as the light of the glorious Gospel shines with great intensity into their hearts to embrace the grace of God for their salvation, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY
Colossians 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Galatians 4:19
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
Ephesians 3:1-21; Isaiah 19-22
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
John 1:14-23; 1 Kings 1
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