Today’s reading: 1 Kings 7; Colossians 4
The way Paul talks about prayer at the end of Colossians 4 is really challenging to me.
When Paul is telling them about Epaphras, he tells them that he is “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers,” and then, in that same context says, “he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.” To be blunt, this is not the kind of language I use when I think or talk about prayer, which also means this is not how I approach prayer.
I do see prayer as immensely important, and as highly effective (the God who is listening and responding to our prayers is infinitely loving and powerful, after all), but I would certainly not call my prayers for others “struggling on their behalf,” or “working hard for them.” For me, prayer much more often looks like, “Here are the things that I want to bring before God for this person or this situation. Did I mention them to God? Oh great! Done!” Obviously there is much more conversation to prayer than that, but I really could not rightly say that I am “struggling in prayer” on behalf of the people I am praying for.
I also very easily get distracted from prayer. I have time set aside for prayer each morning, but there are other times I will regularly feel like I should stop and pray about something (which I am assuming is the Holy Spirit prompting me to stop and pray). Sometimes I just continue on with what I was doing and don’t stop at all, and other times I stop, intending to pray, and then immediately allow myself to get distracted by something entirely less important and never get back to prayer.
But how would these times look if I had Epaphras’ mentality and was willing to work hard in prayer? When I set myself to work hard at something, my mind honestly can get too focused on it and everything else takes a back seat. When I am working hard at something I am passionate to see it through to the end and to do the best work at it I can do. When I am working hard at something I will stay up late and get up early but still be energized because I have work to do! When I work hard at something my wife has to regularly put on a kind smile and pretend she cares even half as much as I do about the thing or idea or whatever it is that I am talking about for the 5th time that day. But how often do I make her put on that face because I won’t stop going on and on about someone or something I’m praying for? How often do I get so caught up struggling in prayer for others that I just couldn’t even consider snoozing my alarm in the morning because I need to get up and get back to talking to the Lord about them?
This is not my mentality about prayer right now, but I can honestly say I want it to be. This sounds exciting to me. I want to be more driven to prayer. I want to be more excited to talk to the Lord about what He’s doing and about the people I care about. I want to be more passionate about what I and others need the Lord to do on our behalf such that it consumes my thoughts and affections. I want the Lord to give me this kind of heart for prayer.
Lord, open my eyes to more rightly see the privilege of getting to struggle in prayer on others’ behalf, partnering with you in the work you are doing in their lives, and having a real, meaningful impact even where I cannot be physically present or involved. Build in me a heart of excitement and passion for prayer that more properly drives me to prioritize it over whatever else has captured my fancy that day. Transform my thinking about prayer to more closely match Epaphras’, and lead me to greater faithfulness and effectiveness in prayer as a result.
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