Ever think about whom you’d like to talk to when you get to heaven … I mean besides Jesus. The list doesn’t need to be short—after all, we have all of eternity!
One of the people I want to meet is Epaphras. His name means loving, charming and handsome. Paul regarded him highly and refers to him three times, twice in Colossians and once in Philemon. He describes him as “our dear fellow servant,” “a minister of Christ on our behalf,” “a servant of Jesus Christ,” and “my fellow prisoner.”
I want to talk to him because he was a man of prayer. “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.” [Col 4:12-13]
Notice his prayer ministry? Paul notes that he was not a quitter … “[Epaphras] is always ….” That is where I sometimes fail … I give up or become haphazard in my prayer life.
Paul also noted that he was “wrestling” when he prayed. The word means “striving in agony.” There was an intensity in prayer that I often lack … I want that to change.
And notice the emphasis of Epaphras’ prayers … that those he prayed for would “stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” His prayers were intelligent, specific, not just some generalized “bless ‘em Lord” style of praying.
I would love to sit with him and discover how he became such a great warrior. I guess I will have to wait until I see him, but in the meantime, I can follow his example—persistent, intense, intelligent, and focused in my prayers.
