Despite his name, which we find hard to pronounce and spell in today’s world, Epaphras was a regular guy. Paul describes him to the church at Colossae as “one of you.” He was highly commended by Paul. Was it because he helped start the church there? No. It was his prayer life.
Apparently, he had traveled to help Paul during his imprisonment, so Paul had come to know his habits. Probably, they prayed together. He had watched this man of prayer. Not just a casual, “on the fly” prayer, he was an intercessor for the people in his home church.
Paul refers to him in Colossians 4:12 as “one who was ALWAYS laboring earnestly for you in his prayers that you (the Church at Colossae) may stand FULLY ASSURED in all the will of God.” Wow! What a meaningful prayer. “Always laboring” means this was his regular practice and shows the dedication and intensity with which he sought God on their account. We would all love to be “fully assured in all the will of God.” If we were, our faith would be strong. We’d know God in a more intimate way.
Who knew we needed to pray for that – for ourselves and, unselfishly, for those among us in our own church? Epaphras yearned for his fellow believers to experience this level of understanding with God. Let’s begin to pray in this way for our church people. Any “regular” believer has the scriptural pattern to pray this prayer. We can identify as a bondservant of Christ, as did Epaphras. If we cultivate this type of prayer, we will surely see a difference in our own lives and the life of our church as we grow together in unity and full assurance of His will.
Nan Robertson
~Christ Fellowship