DAD'S RAMBLINGS – STRIVING IN PRAYER
"Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me." (Romans 15:30)
In this focus verse, the Apostle Paul begged – pleaded – with the believers in Rome to pray for him.
Sometimes I neglect to pray for my spiritual leaders – my pastor and elders. Do they really need my prayers? After all, they are godly men.
One would think that a person who was such a spiritual giant as the Apostle Paul would not need the prayers of other saints. But he doesn't just ask for their prayers – he begged for them. He must have understood his desperate need for God's strength and guidance and protection. His plea for prayer was specific – that he would be spared from the attacks of the unbelievers in Judea, that the believers would accept him in Jerusalem, and that he would be able to come to Rome to minister to them.
The word "strive" is important. This is more than just offering a fleeting 15 second prayer. It is intense and earnest prayer. It is the intense form of the Greek word agonidzomai, which is to struggle as in a fight, to contend with strenuous zeal. We get the word "agony" from this word. This kind of prayer involves deep commitment of heavy labor.
We all need other people's prayers. But spiritual leaders need prayer in an intense form because they are leading the church, they under greater attacks from the enemy of the Gospel than most of us. As a former pastor, I can identify with Paul's earnest plea for prayer.
So in our next prayer session, let us commit to striving together in prayer for those whom God has given to us as spiritual leaders. They desperately need our prayer support.
Love, Dad
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