“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people – the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.
“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world – just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:3-14 NLT)
Paul wrote to the Colossian church to warn and encourage them. The believers were struggling to fully trust God. The people added the gods of the culture into faith in Christ because they were not certain that Jesus was enough. God, through Paul, used this letter to correct the church’s ideas about Jesus and the Gospel message.
We can do the same and mix worldly ideologies with scriptural ideas because we struggle to believe that Jesus is enough! Jesus plus something else… we often do this when we are facing ‘giant’-like challenges in our lives. Jesus plus my money or Jesus plus doing things my way or Jesus plus I am entitled to. Our friendship with God is not for our own selfish gain! Our friendship with God leads us to joining Him in building His Kingdom because Jesus is enough!
Epaphras was raised up to plant and lead the church at Colossae. He was a great leader: “It is in his prayer-ministry, however, that Epaphras is conspicuous. This giant in prayer knew how to lay all before the Lord, and laboring in secret, made the saints to be perfect and complete in their standing through his kneeling. He “strove earnestly in his prayers” for the Colossians.” We need servant leaders who are warriors in prayer!
Pray for Epaphras leaders who will walk with you, help guide you and point you to Jesus. Pray that God would use you to be an Epaphras leader to pray for others, guide others and point them to Jesus. Because Jesus is enough!
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Kevin Nethercott serves as director of Youth Unlimited YFC North Perth.
