2-17-2018

Good Morning All,

               Colossians 4:12b; “(He is) always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God”. 

    Have you ever watched ant of the old Jimmy Stewart movies, one like “Mr. Smith goes to Washington”?  At some time during the movie, he will be arguing for someone or something and he gets real worked up about it.  His collar is flipped up, his hair is the definition of disheveled, sometimes he is sweating so profusely, you think he will drown.  He really portrays the idea that he is wrestling with his opponent in an attempt to win the day even when the odds of his success looks slim.  It almost seems like he is going to win just because of his sheer determination.

    It is always comforting to know that someone is struggling for you; that out there, somewhere, someone is struggling for you on your behalf.  For most of us, it was probably a parent who took up that role first; maybe a grandparent.  Maybe you have a spouse that fights and struggles for you.  Perhaps an employer has been your best ally or maybe your best friend. 

    In our verse for today, we read of someone struggling for you in his prayers.  Most of us probably have more people who struggle in their prayers for us.  Parents, grandparents, sponsors, teachers, pastors, friends, prayer partners all combine to struggle mightily for us in prayers.  When our needs are known to others, the prayers are lifted up to God in humble intercession for those needs.  This is part of prayer, interceding for one another, struggling in our prayers on behalf or others.   

    The first part of the verse has a man named Epaphras praying for the Colossians but we all have someone praying for us, struggling mightily for us at God’s Altar.  We have the Holy Spirit praying for us with groans that cannot be understood.  We have Jesus, himself, praying at God’s very altar as our high priest.  Someone is praying for you struggling on your behalf.  We receive God’s promise to hear our prayers and to share with him the peace that we can never understand.

    Here is something you can do; we do it in Confirmation class.  If you have a small group like a Bible study group; gather together and each of you writes one or two prayer petitions down on a sheet of paper. Now take them and pass them to the person to your left.  Read them out loud as a prayer ending each person’s petitions with the phrase “Lord in your mercy’ and the rest of the group responding “hear our prayer.”  Then take those petitions which you were given home and pray them for the next week. 

    Throughout the Bible we are encouraged to pray for one another; this is one way to do this.  Another is to take home the prayer list that is in the church bulletin and make those prayer requests part of your prayer.  If you are real organized, you can agree to have your group all pray at the same time every day, wherever you are, agree to stop and pray at the same time.  All of these help us to experience the blessings of living in God’s presence through a life of prayer.  No prayer ever goes unheard or unanswered.

Father in heaven, give us the will to struggle in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Lead us to be partners in faith for each other, lifting each other up with prayer.  Strengthen and preserve us Lord.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret