A True Prayer Warrior

[Christ4Ever]

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

If you’ve ever watched a real wrestling match (as opposed to the spectacle that’s called professional wrestling), you see two highly trained, well-conditioned athletes trying to impose their wills on each other. You see two opponents applying the techniques they’ve learned from practice and from prior experience to achieve their goals.

In today’s verse, the word wrestling implies contending passionately and continuously for something. It means coming to God again and again and requesting that which you’re convinced in your heart He wants to do for you. Epaphras engaged in that kind of prayer on behalf of the Colossians. Jacob prayed like that during his encounter with God, too (Genesis 32:22-31). And the good news is that God invites you to pray the very same way.

Can you think for someone you know who could benefit from your prayers? Maybe a pastor or other full-time minister who is doing battle with the forces of evil? Or a married man who is working to save his marriage? Or how about a friend whom you know needs Jesus? If so, learn from Epaphras and from Jacob, and don’t stop asking until God gives you what you know He wants to give you.

 

[MadHermit]

I long to be an effective prayer warrior. That said, the quest to be such a warrior can come with a high cost. A few years ago, I started a small prayer group of 5 who meet every Monday. 2 of our members were previously part of a large spiritual warfare grout that met regularly in their Free Methodist Church. As their prayers became more effective, this was the negative result:
(1) Their leader was falsely accused of sexual harassment.
(2) their pastor was forced to leave the church because he sided with the female accuser.'
Aside from the couple in my new group, none of the other members of the spiritual warfare group still attend church because of tragedies and disappointments in their lives.

My point is this: if your serious about the ministry of spiritual warfare, you will become a special target for the Enemy and you'd better be prepared for this.