Colossians 4:12 says this:
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.
What an interesting phrase: wrestling in prayer.
We usually limit our notions of biblical wrestling to the story of Jacob in Genesis 32. But the practice evidently did not end with the patriarchs.
Epaphras struggled in prayer. He anguished in his prayers. Like Jacob, I sense that he would not let go of God “unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:26)
Yet as interesting as “wrestling in prayer” is to us, the purpose behind the smackdown is even moreso: “for you.” Epaphras struggles in prayer for the sake of the Colossian church.
To the extent I wrestle in prayer, it is usually for myself and my needs. But not so with Epaphras. The maturity and assurance of the Colossian church merits his most fervent, difficult prayers.
For whom will you wrestle in prayer today?
(By the way, I noticed these words especially today because I was reading in Colossians . . . out loud.)