Monthly Archives: February 2026

Hannah’s Prayer and the Birth of Samuel (1 Sam. 2)

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Hannah’s Prayer and the Birth of Samuel (1 Sam. 2)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 22, 2026

Prayer, what does it matter? Seeking the Lord, who cares, dependence upon the Lord, not that important, is it? Well, obviously, I think all these things in our lives are very important. Prayers, seeking the Lord, and dependence on God are important as they affect our whole lives. But when you are a parent, these affect more than you; they affect your children, even if your children are not born yet. Unfortunately, in my ministry, I have worked with children who haven’t had godly parents. Unfortunately, I have worked with children who have had absent parents. It is always refreshing to see a good family. It is refreshing for me to see a family that puts God first. I know there are many families in this church that seek the Lord, depend upon God, and have a vibrant prayer life.

I am not the only one who thinks that prayer and seeking the Lord are very important. In the Old Testament, a woman sought the Lord and was rewarded for it. I know as soon as I mentioned the Old Testament, you thought of Hannah in 1 Samuel. But for those of you who haven’t thought of Hannah, she is the one I am thinking of. Hannah was a very godly woman. She gave birth to one of the greatest Old Testament prophets. The prophet Samuel ordained King Saul and King David, Israel’s first two kings. Because of Hannah, we have the Old Testament narratives of First and Second Samuel. Let me explain this as we walk through chapter 1. But let me add a note, a very important note: As I talk about 1 Samuel 1, I will talk about Hannah’s devotion to the Lord and her husband’s support. My challenge is that we are also devoted to the Lord. But just because we are devoted to the Lord doesn’t mean your kids will also grow up to be godly. If you have an adult or teenage child that you are struggling with, it is easy to blame yourself. But I know of parents who have been and are very godly, and yet their children rebel.  

My theme and application today are:

Strive to pray like Hannah

Please follow along as we read 1Samuel 1

  1. What is going on in 1 Samuel 1?
    1. In the first couple of verses, we have an introduction to the passage. We have a little bit about their lifestyle. Hannah was married to Elkanah. Elkanah had two wives.
    2. It is most likely from context and wording that Elkanah was married to Hannah first. But when Hannah could not have children, he took a second wife named Peninnah. Hannah means “grace,” and Peninnah means  “ruby.”
    3. It was important back then for a man and a woman to be able to have children. Back then, children were expected to take care of their parents as they grew older. Children also helped with the family business.
    4. The text shows that Hannah was barren. This was a big deal. It was tragic.
    5. As we talk about Hannah’s commitment to the Lord, we must also talk about Elkanah’s commitment to the Lord. Verse 3 shows that Elkanah would take his family to Shiloh to worship and make sacrifices. He gave sacrifices to his two wives and to his children.
    6. Now, this was a big commitment. Shiloh was about 15 miles from Jerusalem and about a two-day journey. Now, many of you are thinking, “Why Shiloh? What about Jerusalem?” I am glad you asked. At this point, Jerusalem had not yet been conquered by King David. So, at this point, the Ark of the Covenant, Israel’s temple, and worship center were in Shiloh.
    7. Verse 5 shows that Elkanah loved Hannah more. But also, that “the Lord had closed her womb.”
    8. Major principle: The Lord is in control. I was at a doctor’s office, and there was a sign—“Physicians treat, God heals.”
    9. Verses 6-8 show the pain that Hannah experienced from being barren. Peninnah is described as a rival. She would provoke Hannah, as Hannah had no children. It is possible that she provoked Hannah because Elkanah loved Hannah more.
    10. The Scriptures show God controls the womb, and now Hannah believes that. She believes it so much that she spends extra time in prayer about her son.
  2. Hannah’s prayer-
    1. 1 Samuel 1:9–11 (ESV)
    2. 9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
    3. She prays for a son. She prays so intensely that Eli, the priest, thinks she is drunk. She is praying with her mouth, but her lips are moving without sounds coming out.
    4. Verse 10: She was “deeply” distressed and prayed to the Lord.
    5. She wept “bitterly.”
    6. She made a vow to the Lord.
    7. She would dedicate her son to the Lord.
    8. 1 Samuel 1:12–18 (ESV)
    9. 12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
    10. Now, Hannah prays for a son but also makes a vow. If the Lord gives her a son, she will dedicate him to the Lord for his whole life, and no razor will touch his head.
    11. Now, that is the Nazirite vow, which is usually a temporary vow, but she promises that Samuel will have that vow for his whole life.
    12. According to Numbers 6, people might make a special vow to separate themselves to the Lord for a time. This involved letting no razor … touch one’s head, eating nothing from the grapevine, and not going near a dead body. Hannah mentions only the razor in the text, but that part of the vow probably stood for the whole of the regulations. According to Lev. 27:1–8, a person as young as a month old could be vowed to the Lord, apparently to work in the temple. The Leviticus passage deals with redeeming someone who has been dedicated, but Hannah does not intend to redeem her son.[1]
    13. Have you ever wanted something so bad? Well, Hannah did in this case, so she went to the One who could ultimately provide it.
  3. The Lord rewarded Hannah’s vow.
    1. Hannah goes home, and she becomes pregnant (1 Samuel 1:19-20). God provided a baby, and they named him Samuel. So, Hannah follows through, and after the child was weaned, she brings him to the temple.
    2. So, Samuel was probably two to three years old when he was dedicated to the temple.
    3. I read this and think, “That is amazing, she dedicates her son to serve in temple service his whole life.” This means that, from the age of two, the priest would have raised him.
  4.  Applications:
    1. How are we doing with prayer?
    2. Hannah goes to the Lord with her need.
    3. Do you know what this means? This means she knew the Lord controls the womb.
    4. She believed in the Lord’s sovereignty.
    5. She submitted to God’s sovereignty.
    6. Tim Keller shares:
    7. Hannah had a son named Samuel, and she put him into the ministry, and he became one of the great deliverers, a penultimate messiah, one of the deliverers who foreshadowed the great Messiah to come. He rose up at a time of great crisis, and he led his people to victory over their enemies and saved them.
    8. If Hannah had not suffered … See if God had just given her a child when she wanted a child, she would have crushed him under the weight of her expectations. She would have dangled him before Peninnah and said, “Ha, ha, ha. See I am okay. I’m all right. I’m a real woman. I had a son.” He never would have become the savior, would he? Never. He would have needed somebody to save him.
    9. But because of her suffering and because of her sacrifice of him by sending him away … Through her suffering and her sacrifice the people were saved, because she accepted not knowing how God was going to use her suffering but simply said, “I’m at peace. I’ve made my vow. I’ve changed my heart. Now do what you want. Give me a son. Now it’s safe for me to have him. I won’t make an idol out of him.”
    10. It was safe, finally. It was finally safe for her to have this thing. Because she suffered and sacrificed and put God in the center, he became the savior.[2]
    11. She humbly prayed to the Lord.
    12. Do we believe in the sovereignty of God?
    13. Do we submit to the sovereignty of God?
    14. Do we pray in a way in which we trust the Lord with the results?
  5. How does this point to Jesus?
    1. Hannah prays and praises in 1 Samuel 2.
    2. 1 Samuel 2:8 (ESV) He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.
    3. Tim Keller:
    4. Most interesting (verse 8), God has taken the poor off the ash heap. The ash heaps were the garbage dumps outside the city, they were so foul, and they were burned. They just burned their garbage, and any poor person who actually rooted around in the garbage dump, in the ash heap, was the poorest of the poor. Yet God takes the poorest of the poor and sets them up with princes, and takes the princes and sends them down to the ash heap. “Well,” you say, “that’s very interesting. So what?” So everything.
    5. When Jesus Christ was led outside of the gates of Jerusalem to be executed over in the garbage area, ignominiously being crucified, which is the most disgraceful of all executions … As Jesus Christ was going out in disgrace and in weakness, everybody said, “That can’t be the Messiah.” Why? Because if you look at the forefathers of the Messiah, the penultimate forerunners of the Messiah, they were Samuel and Samson and David and Gideon, and they all brought salvation by being strong and getting glory.
    6. So they looked at Jesus and said, “That can’t be the Messiah. The Messiah wouldn’t be weak. The Messiah wouldn’t be disgraced. That couldn’t be the Messiah.” Do you know what their problem was? They were looking at the forefathers of the Messiah but not the foremothers. They were looking at the men who were the forerunners of Jesus but not the women. Over and over again, God gave a foretaste of the real gospel and the work of Jesus Christ in the fact he continually brought his salvation of the world through the barren, through the rejected, through the unwanted women.
    7. It’s old barren Sarah, not beautiful fertile Hagar through whom God brings the royal messianic saving seed, Isaac. It’s through Leah, the girl nobody wanted, the wife Jacob didn’t want, not Rachel the beautiful and the wanted that God brings the royal messianic saving seed of Judah. Samson is born to a barren woman who shouldn’t be able to have children. Samuel is born to a suffering disgraced woman, but through the suffering and disgrace of Hannah, salvation comes.
    8. If you looked at the foremothers, you would have known Isaiah was talking about the Messiah when he said the one who comes to save us will suffer disgrace and will be crushed for our iniquities. Jesus experienced the reversal Hannah was talking about. Why can we be lifted up and seated in the heavenly places in Christ? Why can we be seated on thrones? Because Jesus Christ went deeper than the ash heap. He went literally into the ash heap.
    9. He not only was crucified in the ash heap, but he experienced the disgrace and the punishment and the divine justice we deserve. Because our sins and our disgrace were put on him, through his weakness and through his suffering we’re saved. You could see it in Hannah if you were looking at Hannah not Samuel. You could see it in Samson’s mother. You could see it in Leah. You could see it in all of those women. The women in the Old Testament show Jesus Christ is not just a coming king, but a suffering servant.
    10. Until you understand the true spirituality of women like Hannah, you won’t know what Hannah knew. Hannah did not know exactly how God was going to use her suffering to bring about salvation. I have no idea whether she even lived long enough to understand that. Maybe at the very end of her life, when she began to see what was going on with Samuel, she said, “Oh, that’s why I had to suffer. So that’s why I had to sacrifice.” But maybe she didn’t know. She didn’t care. She trusted him.
    11. Well, that’s pretty good of Hannah, but you and I have something she didn’t have. We have the cross. On the cross I see that God brings life out of death, and through suffering, his own suffering, he brings about all kinds of life in the world. Therefore, O friends, you can trust him right now. If you are faithful to him and don’t give up on God but put God in the center even during your suffering, like Hannah, God will turn it all to gold for you and for others.[3]

Closing:

There is great value in raising godly children. This value begins when moms and dads seek the Lord at home.

A mother in New England was helping pack a box to be sent to India. Her son, aged four, insisted on putting in an offering all his own, a little leaflet entitled “Come to Jesus.” His name was written on it with the little prayer, “May the one who gets this soon learn to love Jesus.” When the child’s leaflet reached that far-off land, it was finally given to a Hindu priest who was teaching the missionaries the language. He took it without looking at it, but on his way back to his mountain home, he thought of the leaflet, took it out, and read the writing on the outside.

The child’s prayer so touched him that he was then eager to read further. He soon gave up his idols and became a devoted missionary to his own people. Fifteen years after that, American missionaries visited his mountain village, and there found the converted Hindu priest with a congregation of fifteen hundred people who had learned to love Jesus as their Saviour, through the influence and teaching of that leaflet.

[1] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 492.

[2] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[3] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Gain Strength in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:1-7)

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Gain Strength in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:1-7)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 15, 2026

We have been focusing on prayer.

General Patton prayed.

Patton prays:

Sir, this is Patton speaking. The last fourteen days have been straight from hell. Rain, snow, more rain, more snow – and I’m beginning to wonder what’s going on in Your headquarters.  Whose side are You on, anyway?      

For three years my chaplains have been explaining that this is a religious war.  Patton goes on and on asking the Lord’s helping hand.

Then he responded days later:

His follow-up prayer a few days later:

Sir, this is Patton again, and I beg to report complete progress. Sir, it seems to me that you have been much better informed about the situation than I was, because it was that awful weather which I cursed so much which made it possible for the German army to commit suicide. That, Sir, was a brilliant military move, and I bow humbly to a supreme military genius.[1]

I don’t believe Patton is an example of how we are to pray.

Today my theme is:

Gain Strength in the Lord

  1. Context
    1. Let’s begin by talking about the context.
    2. This passage happens towards the end of 1 Samuel.
    3. David has been fleeing from Saul.
    4. David is the anointed king of Israel.
    5. He was anointed by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:12-13.
    6. David kills Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.
    7. Beginning in 1 Samuel 18:10, Saul is jealous of David.
    8. So, David is the anointed king, but he is not on the throne yet.
    9. He is fleeing Saul.
    10. So, in 1 Samuel 27, David flees to the Philistines.
    11. The Philistines were the constant enemies of Israel.
    12. David would fake like he was leading a small army to attack the Israelites, but he was actually attacking the Philistines. This was David and his 600 mighty men (1 Samuel 27:2).
    13. Then, the Philistine leaders do not trust him.
    14. In 1 Samuel 30, he and his men return to Ziklag.
  2. The Amalekites raid against David’s men and their families (1 Sam. 30:1-2).
    1. 1 Samuel 30:1–2 (ESV)
    2. Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.
    3. They, David and his men, arrive at Ziklak.
    4. This is the third day after they left the Philistines.
    5. Serving as a temporary place of residence for David and his 600 men, Ziklag was located in the Negev and given to David by Achish the king of Gath (27:6). David used it as the base from which he would make raids on the neighboring tribes (27:8–11). [2]
    6. The Negev was a certain, dry, desert area.
    7. Reaping the consequences of Saul’s failure to utterly destroy the Amalekites (1Sa 15) and David’s raids against them (27:8), David and his men were the victims of a successful raid in which the Amalekites took all of their wives and livestock captive before burning Ziklag, their city.[3]
    8. Saul was commanded to destroy the Amalekites but did not complete it (see 1 Sam. 15). So, David has been raiding against them (1 Sam. 27:8).
    9. It was about 50 miles (81 km) from Aphek to Ziklag. The Amalekites surely knew that the bulk of the armies of Philistia and Judah (v. 14) had gone to the battle in the north, and they took advantage of that fact.[4]
    10. One of the curiosities of the Amalekites is that they always seem to be present to cause trouble no matter how many times the Israelites defeat them (see Ex 17:8–16; 1 Sam 15:1–9). In this case the Amalekites respond to David’s raiding of their villages (1 Sam 27:8), taking advantage of David’s presence at Aphek.
    11. [There is an important extra detail of information here]: The raid is immediately followed up by David’s devastating defeat of the Amalekites and the rescue of his family and property. In this way the narrative demonstrates that David was nowhere nearby when Saul was killed. He is acting the role of hero, defeating Israel’s enemies and saving his people from harm, while Saul is being defeated by the Philistines at Gilboa.[5]
    12. Did you catch that? That source shares that this chapter shows that David was nowhere near Saul when he died.
    13. David did not take the throne by force.
    14. But that is a sermon for another day.
    15. So, the Amalekites destroyed this city and took the women, and all who were in the city, children, seniors, women, everyone.
    16. They did not kill them.
    17. What did they do with them?
    18. They probably took them as slaves. That is what they did back then.
    19. Don’t miss this.
    20. This would be devastating.
    21. Recently, I read an article in The Atlantic that argued that people may have experienced different emotions throughout history. Various factors develop our emotions.[6]
    22. That may be true; however, this would be devastating.
    23. Imagine that you are one of David’s 600 men. Your wife has been taken, your daughter taken.
    24. Your son, or sons, will be slaves. They may be military slaves. Your daughters may be forced to be temple prostitutes to one of their gods. Your child, or children, may become child sacrifices to one of their gods.
  3. David’s men find the city burned and their loved ones gone.
    1. 1 Samuel 30:3–5 (ESV)
    2. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
    3. David and his men find the city, they see that their family members are gone.
    4. In my mind, I picture a scene from the movie, The Patriot. In that movie, Mel Gibson plays a militia leader during the Revolutionary War. There is a scene in which the British burn a church with the family, loved ones, and friends of that militia locked inside. Mel Gibson’s militia finds the church burned and the bodies of their loved ones smoldering.
    5. They get angry and immediately leave to seek revenge. The man who plays Mel Gibson’s son, Heath Ledger, leaves first, and the others follow.
    6. They don’t stop. They fight. They do weep, but they fight.
    7. In this case, notice that David’s men don’t fight right away.
    8. They pause.
    9. In 1 Sam. 30:4 it says they wept.
    10. Did they weep a little? No, they wept until they had no strength to weep.
    11. I would fight. If it were me, I would fight and weep later.
    12. There is a lesson here.
    13. It is important to pause.
    14. We are task-driven people, but we should pause.
    15. We should grieve. Ecc. 3:4- a time to weep… a time to mourn…
    16. We mustn’t ignore our emotions.
    17. Verse 5 shares that David’s two wives were also taken and tells who they were.
    18. David is affected as well.
  4. David strengthened himself in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:6).
    1. 1 Samuel 30:6 (ESV)
    2. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
    3. This is a “wow” verse.
    4. David is a mighty warrior. They are loyal to him, but they are talking about stoning him.
    5. What does David do?
    6. He strengthens himself in the Lord.
    7. Swindoll shares: For the first time in sixteen months, David looks up, and he says, “Oh, God, help me.” And He does. He always will. He is “a very present help” when needed.[7]
    8. One source shares: …meaning that David drew strength from knowing that he was doing God’s will and obeying God’s Word.[8]
  5. David inquires of the Lord (1 Sam. 30:7-8).
    1. 1 Samuel 30:7–8 (ESV)
    2. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
    3. Now, David goes to the Lord.
    4. It seems like, at first, David gains strength from the Lord.
    5. Then, David goes through the priest to inquire of the Lord.
  6.  Applications:
    1. I see three parts to the applications: 1) Pause; 2) Receive your strength from the Lord; then, 3) inquire of the Lord.
    2. Pause- Notice in 1 Sam. 30:4: David and his men wept. We talked about that already. We must take time to process. When you are going through something, grab a journal and write down what you are thinking, feeling, and going through. Call a friend. Talk to me, or a Christian counselor. They could have gone straight to battle, but they didn’t.
    3. Secondly, receive strength from the Lord. Listen, prayer is not just asking the Lord for things. David has not yet asked the Lord. We don’t know how, but somehow David gains strength from the Lord. I know how we can gain strength from the Lord. Put the promises of God at the forefront of your mind. Meditate on Scripture. Take a few moments and go through Psalm 139:1-5. Write each verse, make some observations, then resolve, and write a prayer. Do that with many other passages.
    4. Thirdly, ask the Lord for guidance.
    5. We are focusing on prayer all year.
    6. I encourage you: Pause, gain strength from the Lord, and seek the Lord.

[1] Website accessed on 01.05.2026

Patton’s Prayer

[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 1 Sa 30:1.

[3] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 1 Sa 30:1.

[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 538.

[5] Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 1 Sa 30:1.

[6] Gal Beckerman. What If Our Ancestors Didn’t Feel Anything Like We Do? The Atlantic; December 5, 2025. Accessed on December 31, 2025.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/human-ancestors-emotion-history/684959/

[7] Charles R. Swindoll, Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny (Discover More About the Real King David of the Bible. Perfect for Fans of House of David) (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 118.

[8] Winfred O. Neely, “1 Samuel,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 439.

Pray that God Strengthens Your Soul (Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:36; Heb. 12:1-2)

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Pray that God Strengthens Your Soul (Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:36; Heb. 12:1-2)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 8, 2026

Pray that God Strengthens Your Soul (Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:36; Heb. 12:1-2)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 8, 2026

How does prayer affect revival?

Listen to this-

Tim Keller writes:

Let me tell you about the 1850s. In 1855, London churches were dead and in a lot of trouble. There was a great big Baptist chapel called New Park Street Chapel that seated 1,500 people, and only 150 or so people were ever there. It was a typical big-city church, great big sanctuary, built for all these people, and there’s just a little tiny group of people huddled together in one corner. They called a 19-year-old man to preach at that church. He had never even finished high school. His name was Charles Spurgeon.

Spurgeon led lots of people to begin to pray for a visitation of God, and he even developed a structure where the people … There was always a group of people praying for him whenever he preached. For the rest of his life he had people who probably never heard him preach because they always prayed for him when he was preaching. There were 150 people or less in that church when he got there. One year later, there were 3,000 people coming, and he baptized 300 converts.

It got worse and worse. They had to knock the building down, so while they were building a new building they went into something called the Surrey Music Hall that seated 10,000 people, and sure enough, whenever he was in there 10,000 people showed up. At one point they went to something called the Crystal Palace which seated 27,000 people, and sure enough, 27,000 people showed up.

In the year 1859, the revival broke out across the world. In 1859, not only did Spurgeon have a thousand converts get baptized and come into his church, but in that year a little group of people started praying. A group of six businessmen at Fulton Street started praying in September, I think, of 1858, and by a year later there were 10,000 businessmen praying every noon for a visitation of God. It broke out.

Some of these names may not mean much to you at this point, but Hudson Taylor, who went to China; Dwight Moody, who was a great preacher and mover and founder of colleges and so on; the Cambridge Seven; which was not a group of people who were up on charges at some courtroom but was seven graduates of the University of Cambridge who went into missions … All of the men and women who were to lead the church for the next 40 years were all converted that year: 1859.

For example, we believe that during that tremendous awakening, one-third of all of the population of Northern Ireland was converted and brought into the church. At least two million new people joined the churches in the northeast United States from 1858 to 1859. Two million … back when the population was considerably smaller.[1]

We are spending a year-long focus on prayer.

Today, my theme is:

Pray that God strengthens your soul.

  1. Luke 21:36 is about praying for spiritual strength, but what is the context?
    1. Context:
    2. Beginning in Luke 21:25, Jesus begins teaching about the signs that will precede His second coming.
    3. In Luke 21:5-24, Jesus warned of the destruction of the Temple.
  2. Let’s look at the events preceding Jesus’s second coming.
    1. Luke 21:25–26 (ESV)
    2. 25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
    3. He is now speaking of something more distant.
    4. Signs in the heavens- sun, moon, and stars. These may be metaphorical and not literal.
    5. Nations dealing with calamities.
    6. One source shares: Jesus described the days prior to the second coming itself as days of upheaval—cosmic, 21:25a, 26b (cf. Jl 2:30–31; Ac 2:19–20a); international, Lk 21:25b; terrestrial, 21:25c; and social, 21:26a (cf. Rv 15–19). “Humans will be overcome by fear” (Bock, Luke, 1683).[2]
    7. Luke 21:27–28 (ESV)
    8. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
    9. Now, they see Jesus. “Son of Man” is Jesus’s favorite title for Himself. This goes back to Daniel 7:13ff.
    10. Jesus is coming on the clouds with power and great glory.
    11. Jesus is coming again.
    12. Look at verse 28:
    13. You see these things begin to take place…
    14. Straighten up and raise your heads, your redemption is drawing near.
    15. It is as if He is saying, “Don’t be discouraged. Look up! Be encouraged!”
    16. Before this, Jesus talked about the many difficult times as the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Then Jesus taught about the cosmic upheaval that would occur in the future.
    17. Many think this is now at the beginning, or some point, during the tribulation period. If so, there is a lot of suffering.
    18. Jesus says, “Your redemption is drawing near.”
    19. “Redemption here is used in a broad sense, not deliverance from the penalty of sin but deliverance from a fallen world” (Bock, Luke, 1687). Jesus’ return will mark the ultimate victory over the forces of the world and Satan.[3]
    20. Redemption refers to the time of Christ’s return, when mortality puts on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53) and the redemption of the body takes place (Rom. 8:23).[4]
  3. The lesson of the Fig Tree (Luke 21:29-33).
    1. Luke 21:29–33 (ESV)
    2. 29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
    3. I imagine Jesus looking at the trees as He shared this illustration.
    4. What is the point?
    5. Jesus tells us in verse 31. We can interpret seasons based on the leaves on the trees; likewise, when we see these events, we know that the Kingdom of God is near.
    6. In this case, the Kingdom of God means “God’s rule.”
    7. Luke 21:32 is interesting. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.
    8. A “generation” can have many different meanings. This could mean “this generation of believers” throughout the entire present age, or (b) to “this evil generation” that will remain until Christ returns to establish his kingdom (cf. Matt. 12:45; Luke 11:29).[5] Another thought (from the Moody Bible Commentary): The note about this generation (21:32a) is best taken to refer to the generation that is alive when these events begin to unfold (not to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking; similarly). Jesus’ point is, “When the signs come, they will proceed quickly; they will not drag on for generations. It will happen within a generation” (Bock, Luke, 1692)[6]
    9. However, there are other respectable views, such as, “This generation” refers to those alive in the tribulation period.
    10. Notice verse 35: God’s word, Jesus’s word, will not pass away.
  4. Watch Out and Be Ready! Pray! (Luke 21:34-38)
    1. Now, we get to the part about prayer.
    2. Luke 21:34–38 (ESV)
    3. 34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
    4. Verse 34 is a warning, and that ought to lead to applications for all of us.
    5. Jesus is saying, “Don’t let your heart be weighed down with wasteful living.” Dissipation means the squandering of money, time, and energy.
    6. Jesus is saying, “Focus on what matters.”
    7. Jesus is saying, “If you are focused on worldly things, drunkenness, affluence, living for this age alone, you will miss the signs.”
    8. Verse 35: the judgment will come upon all, everyone.
    9. This indicates the universality of judgment.[7]
    10. Verse 36 brings out praying for God to strengthen your soul.
    11. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
    12. “Stay awake”: does this mean, don’t sleep? No, Jesus is using an idiom to mean “stay alert.” Don’t fall into spiritual sleep.
    13. Be spiritually alert at all times.
    14. Be watchful.
    15. “Pray that you have strength,” but what for? Strength to “escape all these things.”
    16. He is saying pray for spiritual strength so that you know Christ and you do not abandon your faith. You escape the judgment of the world.
    17. That is: pray to escape judgment and hear him say, “Well done” (Luke 19:17).[8]
    18. What are we praying for?
    19. Two things are on my mind.
    20. First, pray that you stay alert so that you can stand before the throne of God and hear “well done.”
    21. Secondly, pray that you may have the strength to escape all these things. I think Jesus means escape to heaven. No matter what, these things do not trap us. They do not destroy us spiritually. We do not lose faith. One writes: Jesus’ blood and righteousness will shield them from God’s wrath, which will come on the wicked at the end of history (3:7; 1 Thess. 1:10).[9]
    22. Further, praying brings spiritual strength to maintain alertness. It enables disciples to withstand the temptation to depart from God’s will and consequently to stand before the Son of Man when He returns without shame. Faithful perseverance in the midst of persecution is in view (cf. v. 19).[10]
  5. Final thoughts-
    1. Jesus gives us a strong warning in Luke 21:34. Are we weighed down with dissipation? What is that? It is wasteful living. It is the squandering of money, time, and energy. Are we weighed down with wasteful living?
    2. Jesus is saying, “Focus on what matters.”
    3. Jesus is saying, “If you are focused on worldly things, drunkenness, affluence, living for this age alone, you will miss the signs.”
    4. Are we focusing on what matters?
    5. That leads to prayer.
    6. Are we on alert?
    7. Are we living as if we are in a spiritual battle (Eph. 6:10-12)?
    8. Are we praying for spiritual strength?
    9. Are we praying that the Lord gives us the ability to withstand sin?
    10. Are we praying that the Lord gives us the ability to resist the devil (James 4:7)?
    11. Are we in the Scriptures?
    12. How can we study the Bible, study the promises of God, and not worship the One those promises are about? I believe the Bible is written about a Big God. An atheist student once confronted Tony Campolo. The young man told Campolo, “For me to believe in God, I have to have a God that I can understand.” And Campolo replied, “God refuses to be that small!”[11]
    13. Timothy Keller shares: In Eugene Peterson’s book called Answering God, He makes a strong case that we only pray well if we are immersed in Scripture. We learn our prayer vocabulary the way children learn their vocabulary—that is, by getting immersed in language and then speaking it back. And he said the prayer book of the Bible is the Psalms, and our prayer life would be immeasurably enriched if we were immersed in the Psalms. So that was the first step. I realized I needed to do that, but I didn’t know how.[12]
    14. In Matt. 6:13 Jesus instructs us to pray: “lead us not into temptation.” Are we praying against sin?

Keep your eyes on Jesus-

Tim Keller shares:

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you – it’s about him.[13]

Let’s pray now

[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

  1. compare or consult
  2. compare or consult

[2] Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1592.

[3] Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1592.

[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2003.

[5] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1875.

[6] Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1592.

[7] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Lk 21:35.

[8] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2004.

[9] R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 1832.

[10] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Lk 21:36.

[11] (From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Trusting in Ravens, 8/8/2011)

[12] Tim Keller

[13] Tim Keller address: “Gospel-Centered Ministry,” from the Gospel Coalition conference in 2007. Website posting article on May 23, 2007. Accessed on Dec. 22, 2025

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/keller-gospel-centered-ministry/

Wrestling in Prayer (Col. 4:12)

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Wrestling in Prayer (Col. 4:12)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, Feb 1, 2026

We have been preaching about prayer.

What does it mean to “wrestle in prayer”?

Listen to this from Christopher Yuan’s book, “Holy Sexuality”:

In 1993 I announced to my parents that I was gay. This led to massive disruption in our family, to put it lightly. Ultimately, this moment became a catalyst that led each of us, one by one, to the Lord.

At the time, my unbelieving mom rejected me. But contrary to the stereotype, after she became a Christian, she knew she could do nothing other than love her gay son as God loved her.

However, with no more secrets, I felt unimpeded to fully embrace “who I was.” This new freedom quickly propelled me down a path of self-destruction that included promiscuity and illicit drug use. Certainly, not all gay men go down this road, but it was my reality. Ultimately, I was expelled from dental school in Louisville, moved to Atlanta, and became a supplier to drug dealers in more than a dozen states.

During this time God graciously worked in the lives of my father and mother and brought them both to a saving trust in Christ. My parents didn’t realize the extent of my rebellion, but in the light of their newfound faith, they knew my biggest sin wasn’t same-sex sexual behavior; my biggest sin was unbelief. What I needed more than anything else, through God’s gift of grace, was faith to believe and follow Jesus.

My mother began to pray a bold prayer: “Lord, do whatever it takes to bring this prodigal son to you.” She didn’t pray primarily for me to come home to Chicago or to stop my rebellious behavior. Her main request was that God would draw me to himself and that I would fall into his loving arms as his son, adopted and purchased by the blood of the Lamb.[1]

The answer to her prayers came in an unexpected way: I was arrested for drug dealing. In jail, I experienced the darkest moments of my life when I received news that I was HIV positive. That night, as I lay in a prison cell bed, I noticed something scribbled on the metal bunk above me: “If you’re bored, read Jeremiah 29:11.” So I did and was intrigued by the promise I read there: “ ‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’ ”

I read the Bible more and more. As I did, I realized I’d placed my identity in the wrong thing. The world tells those of us with same-sex attractions that our sexuality is the core of who we are. But God’s Word paints quite a different picture. Genesis 1:27 informs us that we are all created in the image of God. The apostle Paul says that in Christ “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Thus, my identity is not gay, ex-gay, or even straight. My true identity is in Jesus Christ alone.

Ultimately, upon my release from jail, I committed to studying and submitting to biblical and theological truth. I enrolled in Bible college and later, seminary. Over time, God has given back the years the locusts had taken away (Joel 2:25). My parents and I now travel around the world as a two-generational ministry, communicating God’s grace and God’s truth on biblical sexuality.[2]

His mother wrestled in prayer for her son.

My theme and challenge today is that we wrestle in prayer.

Colossians 4:12 (ESV)

 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.

  1. Context, what is the context of this verse?
    1. This section contains Paul’s greetings (Col. 4:7-17).
    2. Paul wrote Colossians, offering great doctrine and applications, and now he is extending greetings.
    3. In Colossians, one source shares, Paul writes to demonstrate that Christ is supreme over every human philosophy and tradition.[3]
    4. Now, he is extending greetings.
  2. Who was Epaphras?
    1. This verse begins with Epaphras, but who is he?
    2. Colossians 1:7–8 (ESV)
    3. …just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
    4. One source shares:
    5. According to Paul, Epaphras is the one who taught the Colossians “the grace of God in truth” (Col 1:6).
    6. Paul also testified that Epaphras worked hard for them “and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis” (4:13).
    7. From this it can be inferred that Epaphras was the founder of the Colossian church (Lightfoot 1879: 29) and an important evangelist in the other two communities in the Lycus valley (Bruce 1984: 8–10).
    8. During one of Paul’s imprisonments Epaphras brought him news of the Colossians’ faith in Christ Jesus and their love for all the saints (Col 1:4). Epaphras also conveyed to Paul their love in the Spirit (1:8).
    9. Furthermore, it was probably Epaphras who had informed Paul about false teachers in the Colossian community (2:4, 8).[4]
  3. Struggling prayer (Col. 4:12)
    1. So, Col. 4:12 references his prayers.
    2. There is more in this verse.
    3. Epaphras is one them.
    4. He is a servant of Christ Jesus.
    5. He sends greetings.
    6. It may be that Epaphras is in prison with Paul at this time. Philemon 23 shares that he is in prison with Paul.
    7. One source adds; At some point, Epaphras became a prisoner like Paul. Three times the text suggests that of him (Col 1:7; 4:12; Phlm 23). In the two references in Colossians, the word “slave” occurs. Epaphras was a “fellow-slave” with Paul (1:7) and a “slave of Christ.” He is the only person other than Paul and Timothy about whom the term “slave” (doulos) is used.[5]
    8. So, Epaphras sends greetings.
    9. Now, it says he is struggling for them in prayers.
    10. What does this mean?
    11. It must mean a deep, devoted prayer life.
    12. 4:12 shares what he prayed.
    13. He prayed that they stand mature and fully assured in the will of God.
    14. Do we pray that way?
    15. Do we pray that we are mature?
    16. Do we want to be mature in Christ?
    17. Do we pray this for others?
    18. What about our loved ones? Do we pray for their maturity in Christ?
    19. Do we pray that they are fully assured in the will of God?
    20. One source shares: Epaphras may have prayed for a complete understanding of the will of God. That parallels Paul’s prayer that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will (1:9).11,[6]
    21. The next verse builds on this: Colossians 4:13 (ESV): For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.
    22. Look at these examples:
    23. “Epaphras holds the unique distinction among all the friends and co-workers of Paul of being the only one whom Paul explicitly commended for his intensive prayer ministry. The passage quoted above [4:12–13] may well be called his diploma of success in this ministry.”363
    24. “Epaphras grasped, what many of us are slow to realize, that the tactics of the Christian battle are born of the strategy of prayer.”364
    25. “There are many things outside the power of ordinary Christian people, and great position, wide influence, outstanding ability may be lacking to almost all of us, but the humblest and least significant Christian can pray, and as ‘prayer moves the Hand that moves the world,’ perhaps the greatest power we can exert is that which comes through prayer.”365
    26. “It is related of an old pastor who every Saturday afternoon could be seen leaving his study and entering the church house by the back door, and about sundown he would be seen going home. Someone’s curiosity was aroused enough to follow one day and watch through a window. It was in the days when the family pew was an institution of the church. The old pastor was seen to kneel at each pew and pray for every member of the family that was to occupy it on the Lord’s Day. He called each member by name as he poured out his heart to God for his flock. His was a ministry of power and his people reflected the grace of God upon them. Blessed is that church which has such a praying shepherd.”366,[7]
    27. He “wrestled” in prayer.
    28. “Wrestling in prayer” uses the same Greek verb (agōnizomai) that Paul used absolutely of his own “contending” for the Colossians in 1:29.47 The translation “wrestling” preserves the athletic connotations that the verb often has (see also “battling” in NJB; “contending” in HCSB). In any case, it refers to strenuous and consistent intervention with the Lord on behalf of the Colossians—prayer needed especially in light of the danger posed by the false teachers.[8]
  4. Epaphras “wrestled” in prayer.
    1. Let’s think more about that.
    2. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane:
    3. Luke 22:39–46 (ESV)
    4. Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
    5. 39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
    6. IVP BBC NT:
    7. Striving” (“wrestling”—NIV, NRSV; “laboring”—NASB) is a term of conflict or athletic competition signifying great exertion; philosophers often used it metaphorically. Paul thus depicts prayer as a form of spiritual conflict or discipline crucial to their mission (4:2–4).[9]
  5. Some applications
    1. I have made some applications, but let’s make some more.
    2. If we conducted a self-interview, would our prayer life reflect our beliefs about God?
    3. If we interviewed ourselves about what we believe about Who God is and how we pray, are they in sync?
    4. We believe that God is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, but do we go to Him?
    5. We believe He is our loving heavenly Father. Do we go to Him?
    6. Luke 11:11–13 (ESV)
    7. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
    8. This term “wrestling” is an athletic term.
    9. Piper writes:
    10. So, agonizomaihere isn’t “wrestle a boulder out of the way.” It’s “kill somebody to keep them from making your Jesus ineffective” (at least as they understood it). So that means literally fighting against the Roman soldiers with swords and clubs. So I think, when Paul says that Epaphras is wrestling, struggling, or fighting, there really is warfare going on. So, I’m drawing in the warfare imagery now, not just the athletic imagery. You’ve got athletes who need discipline, now you’ve got war, and you need to defeat an enemy.
    11. And we all know from Ephesians 6:12that Paul says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” Now that’s a different word for “wrestle” in the Greek, but the idea is the same. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. So when Paul says that Epaphras is fighting, not just wrestling, but fighting in prayer, he probably includes the reality that Satan does not like what Epaphras is doing at all and is trying to stop him, and he must take the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith and quench the prayer-destroying fiery darts with that shield of faith and with the sword of a good promise from God.[10]
    12. When we pray, we must remember that we are entering spiritual warfare.
    13. However, greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
    14. The Holy Spirit is in you (Rom. 8:9)!
    15. Do we wrestle in prayer for our children’s salvation?
    16. Do we wrestle in prayer for the difficult situations that our loved ones are facing?
    17. Do we wrestle in prayer to know the will of God?
    18. Do we wrestle in prayer to be content with the will of God?
    19. Do we wrestle in prayer that our loved ones are content in the will of God?
    20. Do we wrestle in prayer so that we resist the devil and temptations (James 4:7)?
    21. Do we wrestle in pray that our loved ones do the same?
    22. Do we wrestle in prayer that we witness?
    23. Do we wrestle in prayer that we, and our loved ones, exude the fruit of the Spirit?
    24. Do we wrestle in prayer for our enemies?
    25. Do we wrestle in prayer that we love God more, desire Him more, are satisfied in Him more, have more emotions and thoughts for God?
  6. What does it look like?
    1. I think we have a good picture of this in Jesus’s prayer at the garden, but maybe not to that extent.
    2. I think it is constant prayer.
    3. We are lifting these prayer needs to God in many ways and occasions.
    4. What do I mean by many ways? I am thinking of journaling, fasting, praying Scripture, praying with other people, worshipping, silence, and more.
    5. Pray what the Scripture says about this subject.
    6. Write out the prayers.
    7. Take time to worship.
    8. Ask others to pray.
    9. Try a different posture.
    10. Seek the Lord.
    11. Submit to the Lord.

Lastly, from Piper:

Piper: So, don’t think of prayer always as an easy conversation. You hear so many people talk about prayer as just wonderful — “have a little conversation with Jesus.” Well, it is sweet, and it is easy sometimes, but often, it is a walkie-talkie during war: the bombs are dropping; the enemy fire is heavy all around. Prayer is embattled, and we are called to get on the frequency of the heavenly headquarters and send in for fire cover here. “I’ve got to have the air force quick, Father, because I’m in trouble.” But never forget that even our call for help is an act of help from the Lord who is for us.[11]

Let’s pray

[2] Yuan, Christopher. Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story (pp. 2- 3). (Function). Kindle Edition.

[3] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 2092.

[4] Florence Morgan Gillman, “Epaphras (Person),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 533.

[5] Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 329–330.

11 It is significant that a word on the same root, πληρόω, should be used in both the prayer and Paul’s description here. Probably the two men prayed the same prayer for the church.

[6] Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 330.

363 D. Edmond Hiebert, Working With God: Scriptural Studies in Intercession, p. 77.

364 Harrington C. Lees, St. Paul’s Friends, p. 157.

365 W. H. Griffith Thomas, Christ Pre-Eminent, p. 191.

366 Hiebert, p. 83. See also idem, “Epaphras, Man of Prayer,” Bibliotheca Sacra 136:541 (January-March 1977):54-64.

[7] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Col 4:12.

47 Dunn, 280; O’Brien, 252–53.

NJB New Jerusalem Bible

HCSB Holman Christian Standard Bible

[8] Douglas J. Moo, The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2008), 344.

NIV New International Version

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

NASB New American Standard Bible

[9] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Col 4:12.

[10] Piper, John. Ask Pastor John. June 13, 2022; Accessed on Dec. 15, 2025.

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-wrestle-in-prayer

[11] Piper, John. Ask Pastor John. June 13, 2022; Accessed on Dec. 15, 2025.

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-wrestle-in-prayer