Engaged in a Struggle!

“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.” *

 

Have you heard of Murphy’s law, “If anything can go wrong, it will.”? Our two dogs proved Murphy right a few weeks ago during their afternoon feeding. Actually, I hadn’t even put down their food bowls on the driveway when I heard a frenzy of barking coming from behind the garage.

No amount of calling would persuade them to come and eat. It was very unusual, especially for TJ the lab who is always ready for dinner time! Still holding their dishes, I hurried behind the garage to see what was causing the commotion.

Both dogs were focused on squeaking noises coming from inside the vertical downspout from the rain gutter to the ground. A chipmunk? It had to be a small creature, one that was able to climb straight up the metal pipe.

As soon as he saw me with the food, TJ was distracted from the chase. He began jumping trying to reach the food, which by that time was being held over my head. No amount of yelling would convince him to stay down…and no amount of yelling would convince Teddy, our usually mild and gentle golden retriever, to stay away from the drain.        

With the one occupied hand, I tried to ward off TJ and with the other grab Teddy by the collar. But Teddy was uncontrollable, trying to shove his nose as far up the pipe as he could. The poor captive inside quieted down, maybe hoping Teddy would give up, but

he was set on having it for dinner and nothing was going to change his mind.  

What to do? At that moment, a voice came from the driveway. It was Shanda, our daughter. Perfect timing! Upon hearing the dogs barking and me yelling, she came inside the gate.

“Do you need help?” she asked

 “Yes!” I exclaimed as I sat on the ground blocking the opening of the pipe with my body, trying to fend off Teddy all the while managing to keep TJ from the food bowls. She took them, relieving me of the jumping TJ.

“Would you please go in the side door and get their leashes?” I asked. That was the only way to control Teddy. So, she hurried over to the house with TJ at her heels.

With two free hands, it was easier to put the leash on Teddy. After putting on his leash and taking both dogs inside, I brushed myself off and thanked Shanda.

 “What excitement!” I said shakily.

 We both laughed and then she said, “I think I know what you’ll be writing your article about!”

After Shanda left, I went back and checked the pipe. There wasn’t any trace of the little creature. At least it was safe!

 The dogs took a long nap after eating, tired out with all of the excitement. It took me awhile to calm down too—wrestling with Teddy was exhausting.

When I read the quoted verse from Paul’s letter to the Colossians recently, the phrase “wrestling in prayer” caught my eye. With whom was Epaphras wrestling? Not with God. No, his prayer was right in line with God’s will for all of His children. God certainly wants us to mature in faith and to live in obedience to Him.  

Paul’s friend, Epaphras, was wrestling with unseen forces that were trying to prevent him from praying for the church at Colossae. Paul described some of these in Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Then there are more subtle forces, like our human tendencies to think about food, fall asleep or day dream while praying. And how about the struggle to find time in our schedules or to pray in spite of distractions that would deter us?

Perhaps thinking of prayer as a time of “wrestling” will convince us to be more committed than ever, not giving up but continuing to pray until the answers come. Seeing that we live in a world where things go wrong, our prayers and intercessions for others are crucial. Army of prayer warriors, let’s mobilize!

*Colossians 4:12 NIV