“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
I’ve spent a lot of time in prayer, a good deal of it wrestling with God about matters that weigh heavily on my heart. When I think of “wrestling in prayer,” two people from the Bible come to mind: Jacob and Epaphras.
Before he was to meet his estranged brother Esau and his 400-man army, Jacob spent the night in prayer, wrestling with God. At the end of this, God dislocated Jacob’s hip but also blessed him: “Your name shall no longer be Jacob [deceiver], but Israel [strives with God]” (Genesis 32:28).
In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we learn of Epaphras, a gifted leader who wrestled in prayer with God for the early church. Referring to Epaphras’ prayers, Pastor Kevin DeYoung said, “Perhaps we need a little less quiet time in the morning and a little more wrestle-mania, … God ordained prayer, and especially wrestling prayer so that we might learn humility and patience and so that He might be glorified” (2019).
Do life’s worries weigh heavily on you? Wrestle it out in prayer to your heavenly Father who hears you.
Before he was to meet his estranged brother Esau and his 400-man army, Jacob spent the night in prayer, wrestling with God. At the end of this, God dislocated Jacob’s hip but also blessed him: “Your name shall no longer be Jacob [deceiver], but Israel [strives with God]” (Genesis 32:28).
In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we learn of Epaphras, a gifted leader who wrestled in prayer with God for the early church. Referring to Epaphras’ prayers, Pastor Kevin DeYoung said, “Perhaps we need a little less quiet time in the morning and a little more wrestle-mania, … God ordained prayer, and especially wrestling prayer so that we might learn humility and patience and so that He might be glorified” (2019).
Do life’s worries weigh heavily on you? Wrestle it out in prayer to your heavenly Father who hears you.
Scripture Focus
Genesis 32:13-30
Insight
Lord, help us as we wrestle in prayer to humbly submit to You and Your plan. Amen
Bible In A Year
- Numbers 31-32
- Psalm 77
- John 19
