March
17, 2004
Reading: Col 4:12-13
“Laboring fervently for you in prayer” (12)
The purpose of biographies and autobiographies is to share with the reader many events, significant and insignificant, in the life under discussion. Huge volumes have been penned detailing the pitfalls into which the subject fell, as well as their rise to fame in spite of them. Some are worthy reading, while others, especially autobiographies, are an obvious attempt to feed the ego of the writer. Some biographies of Christian statesmen, such as Hudson Taylor, George Mueller, Gladys Aylward, John Hyde, Luther, John Wesley, etc., have left an indelible mark on my life.
The bible contains a great variety
of such personal histories, all the way from in-depth revelations of David and
Moses to one-liners on persons regarded by most as insignificant such as Enoch
and Epaphras. Enoch “walked with God” for 300 of his 365 years, and I am sure
his righteous deeds would fill many volumes had he had a biographer—Gen
Epaphras is another of whom the
scriptures give us very few details. Paul says of him that he labored fervently
in prayer—
Did Epaphras do nothing but pray? We know that he served with Paul for a while, and those who accompanied him were actively engaged in his ministry. Nothing is written of the sermons he preached or the sick he visited. We do know that he was persecuted because he preached Christ and Him crucified—Philemon 23. Suffice it to say that Epaphras agonized in prayer for others. The Greek word translated fervently is ‘agonizomai’’ from which we get our word agonize. Would to God this could be truthfully said of every one of us who professes to know Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. I cannot imagine this can be said of one who spends 15 minutes a day in prayer with 10 of those minutes in prayer for themselves. I recently asked 30 Christians how long they devote to daily prayer. I received answers from prayer only 1-2 times a week to 1 hour a day—some refused to answer.
We have all been uplifted after hearing the gospel of Christ preached or the Word of God taught by faithful servants. Missionaries serving Christ at home or in other lands, writers who pen words that God uses to bless and challenge His people, all need the support of those agonizing in prayer for them. I am hearing of more and more churches where a group are engaged in prayer while the service is progressing. These folk are as involved in the ministry of the Word as is the one preaching. Why does every missionary ask for prayer support above and beyond financial help? Every person who is faithfully engaged in preaching and teaching the Word need their Epaphras—many of them. God may not have called us to preach and teach the Word of God, but we can all pray. Prayer is not only a privilege and joy, but a responsibility of every one who personally knows Jesus Christ. May we all ask the Lord to give a desire to pray and, not only pray, but to pray fervently for others.