Tell them I said “hi.”
Will do.
Tell them I’m praying for them.
Okay. Do you want me to tell them what you’re praying?
That would be great. Tell them I’m praying that they may stand complete or perfect. And that they would stand fully assured in all the will of God.
Is that it?
Yeah, but that’s quite a bit.
Really?
Yeah. These days it’s pretty much all I do since I have all this free time on my hands. It’s basically become my job.
Your job?
Yeah, my labor. It’s the good kind of work, of course. But I labor in prayer for my friends.
Labor?
Yes, labor.
Why is this such a labor?
Because there are a lot of things standing between them and being complete or mature.
And you pray about those things?
Oh yes. It’s part of the prayer that they would stand perfect, or complete.
You mean, like temptations or trials?
Sure. Besetting sins, too. Flesh patterns. The need for wisdom or understanding. Whatever it takes for them to be perfect or complete.
How do you recognize those things when you’re here and they’re not?
I pray for insight. I listen for news from them or about them.
This sounds pretty important to you.
Yeah, I’m pretty earnest about it. It breaks my heart to think of them floundering or feeling defeated. And it makes my day when I hear how they’re growing.
So you said there’s a second thing you pray?
Yes.
And is that a labor too?
Of course.
And you’re praying that they would know God’s will for their lives?
Well, that’s a tiny part of it. What I pray is that they would stand fully assured in all of God’s will.
So you want them to be confident that they’re standing in God’s will?
Yes – all of it.
As in, obedient to it?
Obedient to it. Growing in it. Firm against attacks on it. Complete in the pursuit of it. But even more than that.
More?
Yes. To be fully assured in all God’s will means they are confident in God’s intentions for them and expectant of His highest and best.
As opposed to…
As opposed to living below their privilege or cheating themselves out of a life of joy and expectancy. I pray that they would experience the abundance that Jesus came to give them.
So this is more than understanding the directions or the road map?
Much more. I’m praying they come to know the heart of the Map Maker.
It seems as though you’re discovering more and more what that actually means.
Yes. I learn more every day what it means to stand confident in all God’s will. And as I learn it, He leads me back to that place of labor that He would build those things in my friends.
So these aren’t just simple, casual prayer requests?
Simple, yes. Casual, never. Every day I go to bat for them. Sometimes I go to war for them.
And why do you do this?
Seriously? Because they’re my friends. Because they’re my brothers and sisters in Christ. Because we are separated by the distance, but not separated in heart. This keeps me close to them, and helps me be confident and bold in my prayer for them. And anyway, doesn’t everybody pray for people in this way?
I don’t think so. But maybe they should.
So you’ll tell them?
I’ll tell them.
Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God (Colossians 4:12).
Thank you for this.
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