"Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured." Colossians 4:12 NIV
What an awesome picture this is! Someone who is devoted to Christ "wrestling in prayer" for us so that we "May stand firm in all the will of God." One of my favorite passages in the Bible is the story of Jacob wrestling all night with God and never giving up his struggle with God. Ultimately ending with Jacob being named Israel and leaving him with a gimpy leg.
One of my good friends is a local wrestling coach. No, not "wrasslin" like they have once a month at the local civic center, although he does look like he could join the WWE. I am talking about wrestling. The kind where these young men leave their heart out on the mat in every match and their blood, sweat, and tears in every practice..Wrestling is such an intense sport, one I would say is even more intense than my favorite sport, football. The matches are composed of three two minute periods of one wrestler pitted against the other. Pitting the will and training of one man against another. This is one sport that can never be done half way-you're either all in or you're defeated.
Now think of that in terms of prayer. What a wonderful gift to have someone "all in" like a wrestler has to be, on our behalf. Praying on our account that we will stand firm in the will of God, mature and fully assured. Do you have any friends or family that pray like that? We have all heard stories of mothers or grandmothers who have prayed and prayed and prayed for their children and grandchildren until they turned to Christ.
That you may stand firm in all the will of God. Life is like the tide. No not the Crimson Tide. I am talking about the tide that flows back and form, washing in and out. There are times in life where things are smooth and then there are times when things are rough, white cap waves. Waves of job loss, waves of rebelliousness, waves of depression, or just tough times, they effect us all at some point in our lives. Did you notice the word MAY is used rather than WILL? Standing firm remains a CHOICE-regardless of the number and the intensity of the praying saints out there. It is supported in prayer but ultimately it remains a CHOICE.
The question we need to ask ourselves is: "Where do we stand in living out the will of God?"
What an awesome picture this is! Someone who is devoted to Christ "wrestling in prayer" for us so that we "May stand firm in all the will of God." One of my favorite passages in the Bible is the story of Jacob wrestling all night with God and never giving up his struggle with God. Ultimately ending with Jacob being named Israel and leaving him with a gimpy leg.
One of my good friends is a local wrestling coach. No, not "wrasslin" like they have once a month at the local civic center, although he does look like he could join the WWE. I am talking about wrestling. The kind where these young men leave their heart out on the mat in every match and their blood, sweat, and tears in every practice..Wrestling is such an intense sport, one I would say is even more intense than my favorite sport, football. The matches are composed of three two minute periods of one wrestler pitted against the other. Pitting the will and training of one man against another. This is one sport that can never be done half way-you're either all in or you're defeated.
Now think of that in terms of prayer. What a wonderful gift to have someone "all in" like a wrestler has to be, on our behalf. Praying on our account that we will stand firm in the will of God, mature and fully assured. Do you have any friends or family that pray like that? We have all heard stories of mothers or grandmothers who have prayed and prayed and prayed for their children and grandchildren until they turned to Christ.
That you may stand firm in all the will of God. Life is like the tide. No not the Crimson Tide. I am talking about the tide that flows back and form, washing in and out. There are times in life where things are smooth and then there are times when things are rough, white cap waves. Waves of job loss, waves of rebelliousness, waves of depression, or just tough times, they effect us all at some point in our lives. Did you notice the word MAY is used rather than WILL? Standing firm remains a CHOICE-regardless of the number and the intensity of the praying saints out there. It is supported in prayer but ultimately it remains a CHOICE.
The question we need to ask ourselves is: "Where do we stand in living out the will of God?"
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