Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 78

March 19;    Colossians 4:12;    78/260(II);    ‘Prayer Takes Effort’

 Colossians 4:12 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.    NIV

Biblical prayer is the most powerful force in the universe.  Our prayers bring the Lord on the scene to help us or change circumstances.  As with anything this important, there are rules that must be applied to successful, powerful prayer.  The Bible teaches us what prayer is, the types of prayer and the reason prayer is so powerful.  There is an ingredient to prayer that only we can bring, and that is our determination to pray until the job is done.  We do not have to pray the same prayer over and over, but once we have laid out a solid prayer foundation, we must believe that the Lord has heard our prayer and that He has answered the prayer.  We believe this by faith since we have prayed in line with His will, which is His Word.  Once we have prayed in faith, the Bible tells us to stand, thanking the Lord that He has heard our prayer and that we have the answer.  In this verse Epaphras is extending great effort in his praying for the maturing of the saints in the church at Colosse.  Praying in tongues is the most powerful way to pray for others in circumstances like this.  Once we have prayed the scriptures we know that apply, rather than continue to pray those same things over and over, begin to pray in tongues.  The Holy Spirit knows every detail that needs to be prayed for and when we pray in tongues the Holy Spirit helps us pray the perfect prayer for the situation.  Notice Epaphras is ‘one of you.’  You do not have to be a minister to be powerful in prayer.  The only prerequisite is to desire to be a blessing and help others by your prayers.  Your time and commitment are needed.  Prayer changes the world.