Praying Is Working

Day 281: Colossians 3:18-25, 4:1-18

“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart... Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus...He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you.” - Colossians‬ ‭4:2, 12-13‬ ESV

These verses are so great because Paul gives them a specific instruction and then shows them an example, from their city, of what being devoted to prayer looks like.

The word used for devote is proskartereō, and it can also mean to persist obstinately in or to attend constantly.

There is no day that will not require an incredible amount of prayer. Moment by moment, we are to remember that we should not want to do this alone. We need God’s help, and we need others to intercede for (and with) us.

The beautiful thing is that when others pray for us, we are more likely to return the favor. May we be these prayer trendsetters.

Epaphras got it. He was asking God for strength and growth on their behalf. May we join him in this kind of stubborn prayer!

"Praying is working; and by such fervent prayer Epaphras toiled effectively on behalf of the churches of Colossae and Laodicea and Hierapolis." - E.K. Simpson