The silent ministry
Sunday, 20 December 2015
“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record, that he has a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis” (Colossians 4:12-13).
Epraphras is not a name you hear much of.
He was a member of the church in Colosse, and obviously a dear saint in the Lord.
We know that he suffered imprisonment with Paul at one time.
But the thing that really impresses me about this saint is what Paul wrote about him:
He always labored fervently in prayer!
The intercessory work of the saint through prayer is the work behind the scenes-
– the silent ministry that the world knows little of,
– yet more powerful than any weapon on earth unleashing power from above that makes demons tremble!
This was a man with whom Paul must have been accustomed to praying-
– and clearly the apostle knew of his zeal from personal experience.
But notice what Epaphras prayed for-
– that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God!
That’s my prayer for each one of our readers!
In this day and age, when you can feel the winds of spiritual warfare swirling all around-
– when faith will be tested to the extreme,
– my prayer is that you will stand perfect and complete in the will of God!
With so much work to be done, and so many of us under severe attack, never neglect the power of prayer-
– for this silent ministry counts so much more than you may realize,
– not only here on earth…but also,
– where it really counts…in heaven!
(PR)