Hi Ladies,
When was the last time you wrestled?
Not that kind of wrestling… although some of you moms of little boys might have a recent memory! I’m talking about wrestling in prayer.
I could be wrong, but I don't think many of us are very experienced with this. We pray, but they are “neat and tidy” prayers, or “safe” prayers. Perhaps we’re not sure exactly how to pray, so we stick to phrases we’ve heard from others. Maybe we’re concerned that we’ll say the wrong thing and offend God. Or maybe we have a pious view of prayer that doesn’t leave much room for emotion. Or maybe we think, “If God knows everything at all times, why do I need to ask, keep on asking, ask with fervency?”
There are probably as many reasons for our lack of wrestling as there are readers of this right now. And my goal is not to tell you why you don’t, but to 1) show you a motivating model, and 2) encourage you to identify your own reason(s) and work by grace to overcome it so you can become a model as well.
First, we see examples all over Scripture of people wrestling or struggling in prayer. A most vivid example is Jacob who actually, physically wrestled with “a man” of whom he said, “I have seen God face to face” (Gen. 32:22-32). Hannah wrestled in prayer with so much passion that Eli the priest thought she was drunk (1 Sam. 1:1-20). Job groaned, the psalmists lamented, kings fasted, the prophets pleaded.
Then we come to the New Testament: Simeon (Lk. 2:25), Anna (Lk. 2:36), the Syrophoenician woman (Mk. 7:24-30), Paul (2 Cor. 12:7-9). And sweating, like great drops of blood? Christ Himself knows what it means to wrestle in prayer (Lk. 22:44).
But I especially love an example we see in Colossians 4. Paul is concluding his letter by sending greetings to this church body, and he says this: "Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God" (Col. 4:12).
"Always struggling on your behalf in his prayers" - The Greek word for “struggling” is agōnizomai. This probably reminds you of our own English word agonizing. It carries the idea of laboring fervently with strenuous zeal. This dear brother had committed not only his life to sharing Christ with these people (Col. 1:7), but also his prayers. Do we pray with such commitment for our Family?
What was he praying for? That they would "stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God." This is too rich to unpack this week, so we'll look at it more next week. But for now, I just want you to notice the essence of the requests. How do our requests for one another compare?
Finally, I encourage you to spend some time this week thinking about what might be hindering your own wrestling or struggling in prayer. Ask the Lord to show you. He wants you continually coming to Him, casting your cares, confessing your sins, fighting your doubts, interceding for your brothers and sisters, pleading His promises. So, He will show you!
Let's pray for one another this week, that the Lord would teach us and free us to pray like this, especially for one another.
Learning what it means to struggle on your behalf in my prayers is such a joyful privilege. ❤️🙏🏼
Anna
