Hi Ladies,
Last week, after meditating on Colossians 4:12 and trying to articulate its richness, I realized that there was just too much to fit into one devotional. 🙂 So, we continue this week…
“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.”
Last week, we looked at Epaphras’s zealous commitment to prayer. His prayers were not half-hearted prayers, nor were they “in passing” prayers. They were fervent and ongoing. But what were these struggle-infused prayers for?
“That you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.”
Notice his desire that they stand. The original word means “to not hesitate or waver; to stand fast.” Can you picture a soldier armed and ready to fight, with his feet braced firmly on the ground? Whatever Epaphras is praying for, he wants them firmly anchored in it. But what is it?
He first prays that they would stand mature. Some translations say “perfect”; some say “complete.” It’s the Greek word teleios, which we’ve looked at before. It can mean “fully developed” or “brought to completion” or “lacking in nothing.” Here, it seems that Epaphras is echoing Paul’s similar, passionate desire found in chapter 1: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28).
This maturity will not reach absolute completion until our earthly sanctification is over and we stand glorified in the Lord’s presence. But it is something that we are striving by grace to live toward more and more each day that we are given on earth.
We do not drift into holiness.
We do not achieve Christlikeness simply because of the number of days or years we have been saved.
It takes work. Spirit-fueled work. And both Paul and Epaphras understood the essentialness of prayer toward this end.
How about you? Do you pray for your sisters and brothers in Christ to remain steadfast in their faith, not wavering, but continuing to progress all the way to completion?
Epaphras adds one more request: that they stand fully assured in all the will of God. “Fully assured” is a beautiful compound word in Greek that here means fully persuaded or convinced. He wanted them to be absolutely sold on something. And that something was the will of God.
“Oh, the elusive will of God!,” you might think. “I wish I could be absolutely certain of it!” But if Epaphras is praying for this (and not just assurance of some of God’s will, but all), perhaps we have an inaccurate (or lazy) view of God’s will. I know I have struggled with this. I just want God to send the clear lightning bolts and tell me all the right answers to all of life’s decisions!
But Ladies, God has given us His will, laid out perfectly in the pages of His revelation to us. Beyond the clear “this is the will of God” statements, Peter writes that God has given us everything we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3). All the principles we need to be who He wants us to be, and to do what He wants us to do, are found in His Word.
Yes, this takes work! We must learn them - studying God's Word and sitting under the preaching of His Word. And then we must live out what we know, applying His Word to our lives in daily dependence on the Spirit. But we have it! And Epaphras is continually struggling in prayer that these believers stand confident in it all.
Did you notice the double emphasis? He’s not only praying that they come to know all of God’s will, but also that they will be convinced that it is best!
How about you? As you pray for your brothers and sisters, do you pray both for knowledge and for assurance of it?
We have a wonderful model here to pray for one another this week and beyond. God, would You empower us to stand fast together ‘til the end? And would You grow us not only in our awareness of what You desire of us, but also in our joyful certainty of Your sovereign goodness in it all?
Let’s be a church family who labors in prayer together for these things, and then lives it out by His amazing grace!
❤️🙏🏼
Anna
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