Labor In Prayers
Thanking you and recognizing your efforts of intercession
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you,
always laboring fervently for you in prayers,
He is always wrestling in prayer
always struggling on your behalf in his prayers
He always prays earnestly
This action—no matter which translation used, is not one that is easy-going or light-hearted, casual or infrequent in praying.
Instead, the word laboring (noun and verb) denotes hard work or "toil" — “resulting in weariness, laborious toil, trouble;"
Likewise, "wrestling" is used figuratively in Eph 6:12, of the spiritual conflict engaged in by believers. This references a struggle, and reminds us of Jacob who wrestled all night with the angel (Gen 32:24)
Struggling is effort for or against something, or someone, a contention or race, a contest.
That sounds a lot like work! And apparently, Paul though enough of what Epaphras was doing for his Church to highlight it in this letter, commending one of their own for his praying for them.
He was fervent in his praying, or earnest. Which is defined as diligence, earnest care, without ceasing, with zeal, intensity; Says David:
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1
…and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death…And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly…And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Zeal, strain, intent, strenuous, “to be hot or to boil” are all words or phrases used to describe fervent. Epaphras was evidently striving for someone (The Church) and he was striving for something (they would stand perfect and complete in all the will of God).
This Labor Day is the holiday recognizing the economic and business achievements of American workers, and was established to highlight the contributions laborers have made to the building of businesses and commerce.
Today, at Epaphras Prays, we recognize those many unseen workers in the prayer closet. Those who are quietly praying night and day, crying our the Lord on behalf of the Bride of Christ, the people of God, The Church. Your contributions may not be heralded from the pulpit, or understood by the congregation; you likely go unrecognized and misunderstood; you forgo events, sleep, or hobbies to pray.
But, your labors do not go by unnoticed—the Lord sees in secret and will reward you.
So thank you, for reading this newsletter, for passing it along; for praying like Epaphras for your church; for your sacrifices, for dedication, for your encouragements. We salute you praying men and women, and we pray always for you to pray steadfastly with all kinds of requests and petitions to the One seated on the mercy seat.
Because Jesus, grace and peace to you.
Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God
Here are three passages we are praying from this week (one passage per day):
that the Word of God would grow, spread, and prevail in the land
Monday - Acts 6:7
Tuesday - Acts 12:24
Wednesday - Acts 19:20
Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?
Until Thursday, grace and peace