A Verse That Still Challenges Me

First, thank you for your prayers. The last couple of weeks I was sick and could not be here, but the church prayed for me, and God has given me healing. It is good to be back with you.

I want to share one verse with you — a verse I actually shared years before, and maybe nobody remembers. I am sharing it again, and adding some more things, because still it is not fully implemented in my life. The Holy Spirit is speaking to me again: I have to do this.

Epaphras is a name I have never heard given to anyone else — I have heard of a Clement, which is also in the Bible, but never an Epaphras. What a beautiful character he is.

The verse is Colossians 4:12. When I shared this verse years ago, Jason — who has since moved to Texas — told me, "Maybe we all have to change our middle name to Epaphras." I have never forgotten that. Here is what Paul writes:

"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" (Colossians 4:12).

Just One of You

Notice how Epaphras is introduced. It doesn't say he was an elder, or a very significant person in the church. Just: "Epaphras, who is one of you." Any one of us could put our own name in that sentence. Sam, who is one of you. Henry, who is one of you. You, who is one of us — a servant of Christ Jesus, always struggling on the behalf of this church in your prayers, that we may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Could the Holy Spirit say that about me? That I am wrestling in prayer for IFGC, for Hillsboro, for this country? It is easy to wrestle in prayer for ourselves, and for our families — for our parents, our spouse, our kids, when they are going through a difficult time. That prayer is different, and it is good. But Epaphras was not praying for his own family. He was praying for them — people related to him only through Christ.

Wrestling, Not Just Praying

Look at the word Paul uses. In some translations, Epaphras is "wrestling in prayer." Others say he is labouring in prayer, with genuine concern. In Malayalam we say prarthanayil poraaduka — fighting in prayer. Not just, "Oh, Epaphras is praying for you," but wrestling. Fighting.

Lord, help me not just to pray, but to wrestle in prayer — especially for others. For those who are not blood-related to me: my co-workers, my neighbours, the people I know who are struggling — spiritually, physically, financially, mentally. Wrestling means I take their burden onto myself. It is not a casual prayer. It is not, "I pray for IFGC, okay — boom." No. It is wrestling.

Four Fingers Pointing at Me

Whenever I stand in this pulpit, only one finger points to you; four fingers point to me. So let me ask myself first: how much am I wrestling in prayer for each of you? I always say I am glad to see, face to face, the people I have been praying for all week. But can I honestly say, "I have been wrestling in prayer for you"?

A Puddle of Tears

My mother told me a story from her childhood — a true story, which I verified with her sister, who is 93 years old and living in Houston. When my mother's father became very sick, almost ninety years ago, the believers of the Brethren Assembly did the only thing they knew to do: they came to the house and prayed. One brother — Thomas, from Aymanam — travelled a long way to their place, walking the last three or four miles, and bowed down beside my grandfather's bed on the floor and prayed. When he got up, my mother said, there was a puddle on the floor — a puddle of his tears.

He was not a blood relative. He was just a brother in Christ. He was an Epaphras, wrestling in prayer for my grandfather.

Let's Be an Epaphras

So here is my challenge, to myself first: let's be an Epaphras. Let's be an Epaphras for IFGC. Let's be an Epaphras for our family. Let's be an Epaphras for this country. Let's be an Epaphras for India — so many innocent people, so many evangelists in jail; can we wrestle in prayer for them? Don't forget that name: Epaphras, Colossians 4:12. Wrestling in prayer, fighting in prayer — not just saying it for the sake of it, but from our heart, with pain.

Praying With Pain

Another verse came to my mind: "my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!" (Galatians 4:19). Paul never went through birth pain himself, but he knew it is one of the most severe pains there is. Our daughter was born in India, where I could not be in the labour room; our son was born here, and I stood beside my wife and saw labour pain with my own eyes. The Galatians were drifting from the faith, and Paul says, in effect, "I am praying for you like a labour pain." That is another form of wrestling in prayer — praying with the pain.

Three Fights

I will conclude with three fights. First, what I have shared today: fight in prayer. Second, fight against the devil. The devil is always there to distract us, prowling "like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8), looking for the right moment to plant a seed of unbelief. So "resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7) — resist him with the Word of God, and with the Holy Spirit God has given us. Third, fight for the gospel — like those who "have labored side by side with me in the gospel" (Philippians 4:3). That is not an easy thing either.

Fight in prayer. Fight against the devil. Fight for the gospel. We are fighters. Life is not easy. Yes, we are saved — our name is written there — but we still have to fight. May God help us to fight.

And please, keep us in your prayers as my wife and I begin a new chapter in our lives — more time to spend together, more time to pray, more time to do more things. May the Lord bless each one of us.

Wrestling in Prayer: Be an Epaphras (Sunday Sep 27, 2026)