Today’s chapter is Colossians 4

Tom writes:

I’m so grateful for being in a church. I so deeply appreciate the love and care and encouragement that my brothers and sisters minister to me. But there is one thing that others do for me that I think I appreciate more than any other; they pray. When people say they pray for me I want to kiss their knees. They are carving out my future, they are smoothing my ride, they are strengthening me and establishing me. Their kneeling, their bleary-eyed beseeching, their trying to concentrate but getting distracted and trying again helps me live the raised life. So when Paul says we should devote ourselves to prayer he is calling us to do a beautiful and powerful thing. Prayer helps our friends. Prayer wafts wisdom over our friends. Prayer wins battles for our friends. If we want to see others do well, if we want to see them grow and prosper and move closer to Jesus then there is really nothing finer and more potent that we can do for them than pray.

Of course praying doesn’t often feel like that. Praying can often feel like wrestling, as it did for Epaphras. And of course we are talking about Roman wrestling. Roman wrestling wasn’t the glamourized, fancy pants, flashing lights, cheering crowd type of wrestling we have today. Roman wrestling involved long periods in contorted positions being almost suffocated by smelly blocks of muscle. That kind of wrestling is very draining and takes significant determination (I’m sure our modern wrestling does too, if we look past the flashy veneer required to make it entertaining). And prayer does often have that difficult, grubby sort of feel to it. But it is worth it. When we pray for others, we add to the firmness of their stance. When we bring others before God we usher them into maturity and into assurance. Faith is built on prayer. The church is built on prayer. The Kingdom is built on prayer. So I want to pray. And I pray for you, that you do too.

Question for reflection

Who are you wrestling for in prayer?

Colossians 4 - Tuesday 23rd July